Dark Angel
by LilNinjaWolf
Summary: There's a bounty on his head. They've threatened his family. There's been three attempts on his life. Will he find this killer? Or will he meet his death and cause the death of his family also? Sequel to The Classic Deception.
1. The Note

**Alrighty, time to start another journey. Or rather continue off of where The Classic Deception left off. Well, close to where it left off anyway. This chapter isn't very long and half of it is from the preview I gave you all, but I will be updating this every other day. So chapter 2 will come on Tuesday. :) Side note, I don't own any of the Turtles or their allies. Pretty sure I own Dark Angel, but no other characters.****Hope you enjoy this! Reviews are always appreciated!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1 – The Note**

A year has passed. Leo has never felt so alive running free along the rooftops of New York City. The wind rushing past him, lifting up his bandana tails behind him. He ran on for miles, maybe hours alone in the dark of the night. Breathless, he came to a stop over the corner of Third and Main. He let his gaze drift over the bright lights as his breath slowly returned to normal. He sighed in contentment. It felt good to just get out on his own once and awhile. He looked downward at the few people still milling about below him, some holding hands, other walking alone. His eye caught a glimpse of his left wrist, the scar from that horrid night standing out against his green skin. It had healed nicely, almost invisible. But he could still see it. He knew his family could still see it. Though now, he didn't feel any of the old feelings he had when he had given himself that cut. He was glad to be alive, happy to be around his family. He would never try to kill himself again. Ever.

With a sigh, he turned to go back home. It had been hours since he left and he didn't want his family to worry about him. Sometimes he could still see that horror in Mikey's eyes when ever his baby brother's gaze landed on his scar. He caught Donatello cringing every once and awhile at the memory it brought, not as often as before, but still there all the same. Raphael didn't show it in his eyes or even in his body language, but he knew the red banded turtle still worried once and awhile when he was gone alone too long. Leo wasn't hurt that their trust had been a little broken from that night, but tonight as he looked up into the stars that he could see, he wasn't bothered by that fact anymore. The trust was nearly rebuilt, the memories nearly put to rest. They were moving on and he couldn't ask for it to be turning out better.

Leo climbed down the fire escape and lifted the lid to the man hole in the alley. Slipping underground, he put the lid back and dropped down into the sewers. His walk started out slow, but before he knew it he couldn't help running again. The feeling of freedom flowing through him once more. The feeling of no worries, no burdens, and no dark thoughts. Without realizing it, he had taken the long way home instead of the shorter route. It didn't take him that much longer, but he hoped his family wasn't too worried about him. Stopping at the lair door, he froze, his eyes going wide. A white note was taped to the door, written out in newspaper cutouts. He slowly reached up and pulled the note down. He paled reading the note before tucking it in his belt determined to not let his brothers or father read it. He didn't want them to worry. He would fix this before they even knew anything about it.

_"I know you were Shade. Saki knows you were Shade. Does your family know? That doesn't matter. What matters is your family's safety. Saki has placed a bounty on your head. If you don't want any harm to come to your family after I collect that bounty, meet me at Market and South Street. Maybe we can work out a deal. See you two nights from now Leonardo."_

_-**Dark Angel**_

Leo strode into the lair once the lair door opened, intending to head straight for the shower.

Raph quickly jumped in his way, arms crossing. "Where've ya been?"

Leo stopped before running into Raph and sighed. He really didn't want to talk right now, the note weighing heavily on his mind. "Topside Raph."

"No duh Fearless."

Leo frowned really not wanting to deal with this now. "You don't have to worry bro."

"Worry? Me? You must be thinking of Mikey."

He shook his head. "Don't think I don't still see it."

Raph blinked then let his gaze become hard once more.

"It's been a year Raph. I'm not going to off myself."

Raph's arms uncrossed, hanging by his sides. "I know…" he murmured.

"Then what's this about?"

"Nothin'. Just take care o' yourself."

Leo nodded, watching as his brother shuffled off to his room. He bit his lip as the door shut behind him. He knew Raphael had an occasional nightmare about the issue whenever this came up. He'd have to talk to him more about it soon. With a sigh, he continued on towards the bathroom. Passing by Mikey's door, he couldn't help but stop and peek into his brother's room.

Mikey was sprawled sideways on his bed, half of him hanging off as his left hand lay on the floor. It never ceased to amaze him how Michelangelo could sleep that way.

Leo shook his head and continued onto Don's room. Opening the door slightly, he was surprised to actually see his brother in bed. He could've sworn Don would never make it to bed tonight with the intense attention Don had been giving whatever it was he was researching. Relieved that Don was sleeping soundly as well, he continued on to the bathroom, swiping a towel just before shutting himself in.

The hot water pouring over his skin was both refreshing and relaxing, untangling wound muscles that had tightened when he first found the note. The note didn't necessarily scare him and neither did the thought of his death should this Dark Angel collect this bounty of Saki's. What scared him was the fact that the note had been taped to their front door. This Dark Angel knew where they lived. If Leo didn't meet him, then this person would no doubt come here knowing exactly where to find Leo and his family. He couldn't let his family be harmed because of his stupid amnesia forcing him to become Shade. "Who is he?" he wondered aloud about the mysterious note sender.

Another half hour went by before Leo left the shower feeling better at least physically. Mentally though… He was still concerned about this Dark Angel he would be meeting in two nights. With a sigh, he collapsed into bed worry keeping him from restful sleep.


	2. Suspicious

**Chapter 2 - Suspicious**

Raph waited a moment for Leonardo to move on before he inched his door back open slightly. His eyes tracked his older brother's movement as Leo checked on both of their younger brothers and finally headed into the bathroom. Leo had spent nearly an hour in the shower making Raph decide to sit in his doorway instead. The worry from his dreams were getting the better of him. He never did see Shade in his dreams. Only Leo… about to kill himself over the drainage junction. And then some times… he was up there with his older brother about to kill him off himself. He shivered as that mental image came up.

"Cold?"

Raph's eyes snapped up to Leo's frame towering over him. He quickly stood, opening the door just a bit more. He could've sworn that he had caught a glimpse of Leo coming out of the bathroom and shutting himself in his own room. "No," he muttered answering his brother's question.

Leo raised an eyeridge.

"Go back to bed Fearless," he grunted, shutting the door in his brother's face. He stalked over to his hammock and dropped into it, swinging from the movement. Eyes swiping past the clock, he rubbed his hand down his face. "What's up with him staying out so late? Like me…"

3AM.

This was unusual for Leo to stay out this late. The last time he could remember his older brother doing something like this was the night he had disappeared. The night the burning building had come down.

He shook his head of the thought, not wanting to go there.

Raph grunted and flipped over, burying his face in his pillow. Thankfully dreamless sleep caught him up before his mind could finish going through that night of its own accord.

The next thing he knew he was being poked at in the stomach by something round, small, and hard. His hand brushed at thin air. "Go 'way…"

"Raph…"

Raph buried his head deeper into his pillow, hoping beyond hope that Don would just go away.

"It's Leo, Raph."

Raph bolted upward so fast, the hammock swung beneath him, depositing him on the floor. He groaned rubbing the spot where his head made contact with the hard floor. His gazes snapped upward. "What's wrong with Leo?" he demanded, getting to his feet with a fear that something from his dreams had come true.

Don seemed to shrink under the glare that came from Raphael. "He's asleep…"

Raph blinked. What was wrong with that? "So?" he growled.

"It's one in the afternoon Raph. He never sleeps this long."

"He was out late brainiack."

"How long?" he asked softly.

Raph narrowed his eyes. "Long enough."

"Raph…"

"Just leave him alone genius. He's fine."

Don gave him a look that didn't quite believe that.

"Did you check him over before waltzing in here?"

Don nodded. "Yeah…"

"And did you find anything?"

"No…"

"Any blood?"

"No…"

Raph grunted picking up his pillow and tossing it back onto his hammock. "He's fine," he repeated. He thought about going back to sleep, but decided against it, feeling too awake now.

"But what if… he's thinking again," Don started up again. "About…"

He spun back around to face his brother. "Offing himself?"

Don nodded.

"I feel the same way Donny, but he's fine al'ight? He looked a little shaken when he got home, but everything was fine. Ok?"

Don nodded. "Guess I'm just worrying again, him being depressed an all. I tried to give him some anti-depressants, but you know Leo and medicine."

Raph nodded, frowning. "He didn't say anything to me about being depressed."

"Didn't tell me either. But you know what yesterday was don't you?"

He thought about it and shook his head, coming up with nothing.

"Yesterday was the day from a year ago when he remembered who he was."

Raph's eyes slowly widened before narrowing again. "No way…"

"Yeah.

Raph shook his head, his gaze slowly flickering to the ceiling. "Let him sleep. You checked him over, he's fine. I'll try talking to him later."

"Ok. Let me know if anything's wrong. He won't even talk to Splinter about it."

Raph shook his head. Maybe there was nothing wrong. Leo never said anything, but that didn't mean anything either. He pushed passed Don and stalked off to the kitchen.

"Mornin' sleepyhead."

He grunted as he plopped down at the table. A plate of eggs appeared in front on him. He started at it then up at Mikey, one eyeridge raised.

Mikey shrugged. "You just got up. Figured you want breakfast."

"T'anks…" Raph muttered, digging into the eggs. Today he didn't even mind if they were scrambled or not. Not that Mikey knew how to make them any other way. They were good just as they were, that is when Mikey didn't over do it, making eggs for breakfast every morning.

Mikey pulled out a chair and plopped down next to him. He was silent, but his leg bounced up and down in a nervous twitch.

"What's wrong wit' ya?"

Mikey's head jerked up. "Is Leo ok?"

"I'm fine," a voice spoke up softly from the doorway.

Raph and Mikey both turned their heads to the voice.

Leo leaned tiredly against the doorframe, a small smile crossing his face.

"Leo!" Mikey jumped up from the table, knocking the chair over, and enveloped his older brother in a hug.

"Mornin' Mike…" Leo got out, gasping for breath.

Raph stood with a growl and yanked his over excited brother off of Leo. "Yeesh Mike, give the guy a little breathing room."

Mikey smiled sheepishly. "Sorry…"

"It's ok Mikey."

"I saved some eggs for you. You want some?"

"Sure Mikey. That sounds good," Leo said, taking a place at the table.

Raph let go of Mikey and sat back down to finish his eggs. They however were gone within a few minutes.

"So how're ya feeling today Leo?" Mikey asked excitedly.

"Fine," Leo answered, taking another bite of egg.

"You sure bro? It's like past one now dude. You never sleep this late."

Leo choked on a bite of eggs. "What time is it?"

"One o'clock." Mikey glanced at the kitchen clock. "Well more like two now."

Leo rubbed a hand over his face. "I really didn't mean to sleep that long…"

"Chill dude, you probably needed it."

Leo shrugged and went back to eating his eggs.

"Isn't that movie on right about now?" Raph asked Mikey slowly.

"Movie?"

"Yeah, ya know, the one you were telling me about last night."

"You mean Killers in the Night?"

Raph nodded, not even sure of the name.

Mikey's gaze snapped to the clock and back to Raph again, gasping. "Yeah it is!" He raced out of the kitchen leaving both Leo and Raph to chuckle at him.

"That's one way to get rid of him," Raph muttered.

"He never told you about a movie on for today, did he?"

"Nope."

"What'd you want to talk about?" Leo asked.

Raph pushed his plate away and got up, pulling the fridge open to swipe a red bull. Taking his spot at the table again, he opened it and took a long swig. "What shook ya up last night?"

"You mean this morning?"

"Yeah."

"It was nothing really. Just didn't want you worrying again. That's my job."

Raph chuckled. "Jus' cuz ya come back from the so called dead doesn't mean I'm not gonna worry or somethin'."

Leo smiled and shook his head.

"But you're tryin' to lead me 'way from the question."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so spill."

"It was nothing Raph."

"Anything to do with this depression Don mentioned?"

Leo's eyes widened. "Donny said that?" He laughed, leaning back in his chair.

Raph couldn't help but start laughing as well. It had been quite awhile since he had heard Leo laugh like this and wasn't about to stop it until Leo was done.

"I'm not depressed Raph. I feel far from it. Last night… for the first time… I felt free. It was gone Raph. That nagging feeling from months ago… gone just like that." Leo smiled brightly and took a final bite of eggs. "It felt good."

Raph couldn't help but stare at his older brother. He did look better. A lot better than last night. Than the past few weeks even. "But then was up with early this morning?"

Leo shrugged as he stood up. "Exhaustion probably." He rinsed off his plate and put it in the dishwasher, coming back for Raph's plate to do the same with that as well.

Raph leaned back, feeling a bit better himself. "Well if ya say so."

Leo turned back, that grin back in place. Raph had to admit it looked at little creepy. He hadn't seen his brother really smile like that since before the burning building fiasco.

"So uh… if ya were so exhausted, why'd ya get out of bed to come check on me?" Raph asked.

Leo looked over at him, the second plate still rinsing beneath the water. He shrugged, returning to the plate with a smile. "Couldn't sleep either. Thought you might want to talk."

Raph nodded in understanding. "Ah…" He finally got up from the table, making his way out of the kitchen and back to his room where his weight set was waiting for him. Two green skinned turtles, however, had other things in mind and stepped in front of him. "Move."

"Well?" Don asked.

"What'd he say?" Mikey pried.

Raph scowled. "Like I kept trying to tell ya earlier, he's fine. Better than ever actually. He… actually grinned like he used to."

"Really?" Mikey asked, hope shining in his eyes.

Raph nodded, watching in amazement as Mikey ran off. He shook his head. "Chucklehead…"

"You sure?" Don asked.

"Yeah Don. Real sure." Raph smiled faintly before the usual scowl returned. He stepped around his purple banded brother and made it to his room and his beloved weight set.

* * *

**Tune in tomorrow for the next chapter of Evil Unseen. Followed by the next chapter for this on Wednesday. ;) Reviews are very much appreciated and hope you enjoyed it.**


	3. Patrol

**Chapter 3 - Patrol**

By nightfall Leo was itching to get out of the lair again. This time however, he was itching for a patrol run with his brothers. Today Mikey seemed to stick to him like glue. Seemed he thought his older brother was gonna disappear on him or something. Leo didn't mind really. He was just happy to see his baby brother so happy. The gloomy mood lately had to be because of him. He doubted it escaped anyone what yesterday meant. A year exactly to when he woke up from being Shade… He shuddered, not wanting to remember that again. He had things back to normal again and didn't want that to change.

But it would change.

Another glance at the note under his pillow confirmed that. Tomorrow night. That's when he would be meeting this mysterious Dark Angel. He frowned at the cut out note. Someone really didn't want their handwriting to be identified. Could it be someone they knew? Or was it someone just as paranoid as he is? He sighed, stuffing the note inside his pillow case this time. He couldn't chance that his brothers would sneak into his room and accidentally find it if they moved his pillow.

He had to admit that the bounty Saki put on him had him just a little bit nervous. If more than just Saki and this Dark Angel character were after him… he'd probably have to stay underground. Keep his brothers underground.

"Yeah, like that will go over well…" Leo muttered aloud. "Raph will go stir crazy before the week's over."

"What was that?"

Leo spun to see Raphael walking into his room. He frowned. "Nothing little brother."

Raph scowled.

Leo just smirked. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Been ready for hours. Chucklehead's having a hard time getting away from the TV."

Leo's smirk grew, making his brother raise an eyeridge at him.

"You sure you're ok Leo?"

"Never better. You want to go pull Mikey away?"

Raph smirked. "Now that sounds like fun."

"Lead the way bro. It time we headed topside."

A twinkle lit Raphael's eyes as he headed out of Leo's room towards the couch and their baby brother.

Leo kept his steps light and without sound. Not that he needed to with how loud Michelangelo had the TV volume. But he couldn't help it anyway. He glanced over at Raphael, who glanced back him. They both nodded, each grabbing one of Mikey's shoulders and yanking him off from behind the couch.

Mikey let out a girly shriek loud enough for his older brothers to instantly let go and cover their ears.

"Yeesh Mikey, it's just us," Raph growled.

Leo crossed his arms.

Mikey stood sheepishly. "Sorry dudes…"

Leo shook his head. "Come on, we're heading out."

Mikey saluted. "I'll get Donny," he said, quickly running off.

Raph chuckled. "That's one way to get him moving."

Leo smirked. It had actually been a bit fun, except for dropping Mikey once they had him all the way over the couch. Luckily it didn't look like it had hurt Michelangelo at all.

"You want to warn me next time you're gonna pull something on Mikey, Raph." Don stopped next to them steamed with Mikey in tow.

"Break your concentration?" Raph asked.

"Yeah and a few beakers too," Don muttered.

Raph clapped Don on the back. "Take it easy Don. You've been cooped in there too long. Fearless says it's time for patrol."

"Right now?" Don looked over at Leo.

The way he asked the question made him seem so much like Mikey at times. "Yes now Don. You need a break. You're working too hard again," Leo said gently.

Don managed a small smile. "Well who else is going to fix the things you guys break?"

Mikey snickered. "Surely not Raph."

"What'd ya say?" Raph demanded.

"Later bros!" Mikey sprinted for the lair door, disappearing into the sewers.

"Wanna play chase the Mikey?" Raph growled, already racing out the door.

"Like we have a choice?" Don mumbled with a smile.

"Yeah… I don't think so," Leo admitted. "Come on." He ran out the door and down the sewers trying to catch up to Raphael, hoping the fight wouldn't get too out of hand.

They found Mikey and Raph on the rooftops after at least a half hour had passed. It never ceased to amaze Leo how fast Mikey sometimes ran or even how hard Raph tried to keep up with him. Of course if Don hadn't had his tracker on him, it probably been a couple hours before they'd been able to find those two. It was a good thing it wasn't that long by the time Leo landed on the same rooftop they were on. He grabbed Raphael's wrist before he could pound Mikey's head in. "Cool it Raph."

Raph's head snapped up, his gaze burning hotly.

Leo raised an eyeridge, giving his brother his _stare_.

Raph finally looked away, jerking his wrist away and standing up.

As soon as he walked a few feet away, Mikey leapt up to his feet. "Thanks bro," he said cheerily.

Leo sighed and looked over at Don, the same expression on his face. "Do you have to provoke him Mikey?" Leo asked exasperated.

"Well you two started it," Mikey complained.

"He is right," Don spoke up. "Wait, you two?"

"I helped him…" Leo smiled slightly and turned to Raph when he heard his shell cell ring. Every eye from his brothers turned to him. His hand closed around his cell, bringing it to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Leo! What are you guys doing?"_

"April? Well actually we were starting our patrol."

His brothers gathered around, straining to hear the conversation.

"_You guys up for a movie night after you're done?" April asked, hopeful._

"Can we, can we, can we?" Mikey begged, obviously catching the movie part.

Leo glanced at both Don and Raph, seeing the question in their eyes as well. "Sure April. We'll be over in an hour."

"And we'll bring pizza too!" Mikey cheered loudly.

"And soda," Don added.

"And beer," Raph said with a smirk.

"_Raphael if you bring four six packs of beer again, I won't allow you in my house for a month!"_

Raph smirked slightly, shrugging at Leo's glare.

"He won't April," Leo assured her. "I'll make sure of it."

"_Oh good. See you in an hour then."_

Leo returned his cell to his belt. "Four six packs of beer?" he asked Raph, his eyeridge rising once more.

Raph chuckled. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. Case and I wanted to…"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"Hey, we cleaned up the living room."

"Yeah, after April freaked at the mess and the amount of bottles."

"Hey, aren't we gonna finish patrol?" Mikey interrupted. "I wanna see the movie."

"You don't even know what movie it's going to be," Don said.

"So? It's still a movie isn't it?"

"True."

"Then let's go then."

"Keep your shell on shell fer brains," Raph muttered. "We're goin', we're goin' already."

Mikey grinned.

Leo surveyed his brothers, saw their ready stances, and took off into the night, leading the way over the rooftops. Graceful in his leaps, careful in his flips, light in his landings, he led them down into the alleys and finally back up onto the rooftops. The occasional fight not lasting longer than mere minutes, mostly because of Raphael's hotheaded impulsiveness, rushing into battle before they were ready.

Like now, again, for the third time tonight…

"Raph wait!" Leo whispered harshly.

He shook his head in slight disgust. Why couldn't Raphael ever just listen for once? It was beyond him. He gave the signal and followed his red banded brother into battle, his younger brothers right behind him. He slid his katana out of their sheath, the ringing loud in his ears even though he knew the enemies wouldn't hear it. They wouldn't even hear him or his brothers coming to join Raphael. They were ninja. The purple dragons were not. He landed quietly in the alley and leapt to the right, slashing the pipe that had intended to bash his brother's skull in. Swinging to the left, he blocked the bat of the dragon brave enough to try and hit a sword wielding ninja. With a quick lash of his leg, he had the dragon down. His leg continued in its arc to knock out the first one as well.

Standing straight, he looked around the battle field of the alleyway. Seven purple dragons all down for the count.

Mikey bouncing from one foot to the other, a wide grin on his face.

Don shifting to look around the alley, checking the knocked out thugs with his eyes.

Raphael, searching the shadows for a straggler, that dark glint in his eyes.

No other thug presented himself.

Leo relaxed, raised his swords, putting them away. He started towards his brothers, only to spin around and catch a ninja star within his hands. A quick glance at it made his skin go cold.

Dark Angel.

Written in red blood on the silver of the shirken.

He quickly tucked the ninja star into his belt before his brother joined him at his side.

"What was that?" Mikey asked, a bit of a high tone to his voice.

"I don't know," Leo admitted as he and his brothers searched the shadows.

But he was here.

And Leo knew he was watching.

He could feel it.

* * *

**Reviews please! :)**


	4. Watching

**Chapter 4 - Watching**

He smirked watching them from their right side. They were looking in the wrong the direction. The direction the ninja star had come from.

The wrong direction.

He had moved.

Moved as soon as he had thrown it.

It wasn't time yet.

No.

Not the right time at all.

He would watch though. He would watch because that was what he did best. And strike later. Tomorrow night in fact. And he would have fun with it. Fun because it was something he enjoyed.

Suppressing the urge to grin and laugh at the thought of the fun to come, he turned his attention back to the little group of four ninja turtles.

"I don't know," Leo was saying.

He smiled, not really knowing what Leo didn't know, but it gave him power to hear those words.

Power…

It was something he reveled in.

The power over your enemy, knowing what's going to happen next when they don't. The satisfaction to see the fear in their eyes, the uncertainty. True, Leonardo didn't have it in his eyes yet. But yet was the biggest word here.

Leonardo would.

Soon enough.

He snickered and grew quiet as Raphael shifted, gaze snapping close to his direction.

"See something Raph?" Leo asked.

The other three stared in the direction that Raphael's gaze had landed.

He kept a hand clasped over his mouth, determined to not let another snicker out. It had been faint, but the red banded turtle must have heard something.

"Nah… Must be hearing things," Raph finally conceded.

Mikey laughed. "Dude, you going insane or something?"

Raph rounded on Michelangelo in an instant. "Mikey!" he growled.

"Now now Raph. Temper temper," Mikey snickered.

Another growl escaped the red masked turtle, more dangerous than the last.

"Raph knock it off," Leo said sharply. "Let's go."

"It's been almost an hour. We should probably pick up the pizza and things and head over to April's," Don suggested.

Leo nodded. "It'd probably be best."

Mikey had by now leaped behind Leonardo, quivering like a shaky leaf.

Raphael let out another growl, but finally relaxed his stance after receiving a hard look from his older brother. "Fine," he muttered.

Leo turned, leading his brothers up the fire escape and onto the rooftops, disappearing from view.

Dark Angel smirked and waited a few moments. It wouldn't due for them to figure out they were being followed. He counted to ten slowly, then sprinted silently to the fire escape, deftly making his way upward to the rooftops. Once up there, a smile spread its way across his face as he caught a flash of orange disappearing into the distance. He began running, doing his best to keep up, yet stay far enough behind to the shadows and out of sight. There was a saying he'd once heard about not being able to sneak up on a ninja unless you were ninja yourself or something like that. Well he had no worry about that. The turtles and the Foot weren't the only ninjas hiding away in New York City. He couldn't help but snicker again. Boy was Leonardo going to get a wakeup call to that fact very soon.

He followed them to the pizza parlor.

To the snack shop.

And finally to April's place, the sore excuse of an apartment above the antique shop.

He couldn't help but shake his head. The girl could do so much better than this. And yet she didn't.

After positioning himself near the open window on the fire escape, he watched.

The movie they chose to for the night was some boring suspense covert agent movie or something of the like. He yawned within the first ten minutes, having seen this movie more than he cared to admit. Though their reactions to the movie… that was another story.

Donatello watched the screen with rapt attention, no doubt oogling all the techno gadgets the agent had on him. Occasionally you could see him make a silent _'ooooh'_ with his mouth, eyes going silently wider.

Sickening.

Raphael was just a little more secretive with the same fact. His eyes narrowed as he glowered at the screen, but there was no mistaking that hint of amusement in his eyes either, the slight tap of his foot once the effects instrumentals came up during the action scenes. He liked it.

Repulsing.

Michelangelo. He was an open book, gasping at the screen as soon as the bad guy came on jumping out at the agent, laughing with utter amusement once the agent had the upper hand, screaming like a little girl when he found out there wasn't just one killer, not two, but three killers all gunning for the agent. The hero.

Disgusting.

April O'Neil… she would've screamed as much as the orange banded freak if not for the hideous excuse of a man next to her, arm pressed around her, her hand tightly clenching his.

Revolting.

Which brought him to Casey Jones. He scowled at the thought of him, not to mention the look of him. The amusement danced in his eyes. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know it was from both the movie and April being so close to him, being able to protect her from the Boogie Man, even if only for a few hours.

Detesting.

And finally Leonardo… his prize. He smirked to himself, keeping a faint giggle of anticipation silent. Leonardo acted tough like his brother Raphael, but he still saw the fear and disgust for the killer's ways in his eyes. The rejection, the judgement…

Loathsome.

He had thought that Leonardo out of all of them would've been more understanding, more in tune with the views and thoughts of a killer. He had nearly been a killer himself, taking his brother hostage, delivering them to the Shredder. Memory or not, Leonardo had nearly once become a killer. And yet the blue banded turtle still had disgust for those who were. But he would be more understanding.

Soon enough.

The movie ended, they shuffled around, the lights came on, and he watched with a detached interest as they laughed, joked, and teased each other.

"Dude, you totally screamed like a girl at the end there Raphie boy," Mikey laughed.

"I did not scream," Raph grumbled.

"Perhaps a gasp Raphael?" Don questioned with a sly smirk.

"Who's side are you on brainiak?"

Don shrugged, that smile still fixed to his face.

"But you have to admit," Leo spoke up slyly. "It was something."

Raph growled and lunged forward. "Oh that's it Fearless!"

"Oooh what're you going to do about it?" Leo asked smugly, sidestepping his hotheaded brother.

Raph spun, lashing out again. "This!"

Leo ducked once more.

"Aw, so close Raphie. Way to go Leo!" Mikey cheered.

Raph let out another growl as lunged for Leonard.

"Not the china cabinet!" April shrieked.

_Thud!_

Even Dark Angel winced from his view near the open window. The plates inside the cabinet clattering noisily against the glass doors as it toppled.

Leo jerked around, catching one side. "Raph!"

Raph jumped, catching the other side. "Got it!"

Together the two managed to steady it and backed away slowly.

April rushed forward, carefully yanking the doors open. After looking inside, she sighed, melting away the tension in the room. "Nothing's broken."

"Sorry April," Leo said softly.

"Yeah sorry there Ape," Raph murmured.

April shook her head. "Just keep off the macho antics in here."

A round of chuckles erupted as the six of them began to clean up their mess from the movie.

Dark Angel shook his head. So typical behavior. It was sad really. He could actually predict what would happen next.

Mikey backed up, his hands full with trash and crashed into the far window, the curtains coming down on both him and Raphael, the both of them falling over.

'_Of course,'_ Dark Angel thought.

"Dudes! Raph's gone mental!" Mikey cried looking horrified at his trash covered and steaming brother. He jumped up racing to the other end of the room.

April slapped a hand against her forehead.

"We'll fix that April," Don reassured her.

She sighed. "It's late, why don't you just fix it in the morning?"

Leo shook his head. "We're here now, we'll get it fixed for you."

"Be my guest then."

Dark Angel watched. He watched as the blue and orange banded turtle lifted the curtain rod while the purple one fixed it back to the wall. He watched as the red one borrowed the bathroom to shower. He watched as they finally left the building and finally followed at a distance behind them.

"Wait to go chucklehead," Raph growled, slapping Mikey upside the head.

"Hey, what was that for?" Mikey complained and stopped walking.

"Fer knocking the curtain down."

"Well I wasn't the one to nearly knock down the china cabinet," Mikey taunted.

"It wasn't my fault."

"Oh sure, blame it on Leo," Don snickered. "Real mature Raph."

Raph let loose another fierce growl, shaking his fist at Donny.

"Enough!" Leo snapped, stopping beside his brothers.

Raph's angry gaze flicked to his brother, though he didn't say anything.

"Dudes?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah Mike?" Don answered.

"Run!" Mikey yelled, sprinting off.

Raphael tore off after his brother.

Dark Angel almost felt sorry for the orange banded one. Almost. His feelings would never change.

"We should probably keep up with them," Leo sighed.

"I agree. I'd rather not have to stitch one of them tonight."

Leo nodded. "Let's go." He darted off at a jog, before increasing his speed. Donatello sped up behind him, not passing his older brother, but not falling too far behind either.

Dark Angel himself kept far back and silent. It would not do for Leonardo to notice him yet.

He followed the turtles across the rooftops, crossing city blocks and making insane jumps between large buildings. Though hating to admit it, he was enjoying himself more than he thought he would as he kept up his speed against theirs. Having a good idea on where they were going after jumping a familiar gap a third time, he broke of pursuit and headed back the way they came come. Michelangelo seemed to be leading his family in one large circle. A sneer crossed his face. It was time to give Leonardo his second message.

* * *

**Reviews are greatly appreciated. Love hearing from you all! :)**


	5. Falling

**Chapter 5 - Falling**

Leo ran across the rooftops trying to catch up to his brothers. He could hear Donatello behind him by the sound of his breath. _He really needs to work on that…_ he thought to himself. It wouldn't be smart to be found out by an enemy one day due the uncontrolled sound of one of their breathing. It was something Master Splinter had often warned them about before.

After jumping over the gap between a clothing shop and a pizza place for the third time, he finally stopped and turned to his brother.

Don shifted to keep from running into him and stopped beside him. "What's wrong Leo?"

"You notice something?" Leo asked curiously, calming his fast, yet quiet breathing.

Don looked around carefully before letting his gaze shift back to his brother. "No… what is it?"

Leo smiled and turned back to where they had come, stopping at the edge of the rooftop. He stared off into the distance and turned his gaze to Don once more. "We're back on the roof of one of Mike's pizza places. For the third time."

Realization donned in Don's eyes. "You're right. You thinking that…"

The blue banded turtle nodded. "Mikey will lead Raph in another circle. We're more likely to catch up with them if we either wait here or head back in the opposite direction."

"Makes the most sense. So… wait or go back?"

Leo smiled slowly. It would be a bit fun to scare Mikey for a change.

"Go back," Don answered his own question. "Well after you then," he gestured with his arm.

Leo sprinted off in the direction they had come, his smile growing a little wider. This would also break up the little fight between his brothers sooner. And a good leader always finds ways to outwit his opponents. Even if they are your brothers.

He jumped over another building, flipping onto another, sliding around an air conditioning unit. The thrill of the run brought back as soon as his feet moved underneath him. They had crossed three blocks so far and knew Mikey and Raph would be coming up very soon. He sprinted forward, enlarging the gap between him and Don. He neared the edge of the next building, prepared to jump onto the next, and felt rock slipping underneath his feet just as he saw a glimpse of red and orange.

"Leo!" three sets of voices cried out.

Leo dropped downward, along with the broken pieces of the building's ledge. He reached out for the clothes line between the two buildings, eyes widening as it snapped from his weight.

A hand snapped out and grabbed his wrist about halfway to the ground, gripping him tightly.

He gasped, feeling his arm trying to wrench itself out of its socket. His eyes traveled upward to the gloved hand that held him. His heart beat rapidly in his chest knowing that this was not one of his brothers.

The arm belonged to a large man, bulky in muscle mass but only three quarter the size of someone like Hun.

"Who…"

The grip tightened. "Quiet," he hissed.

"Leo!" a voice drifted from the rooftops.

"You ok bro?"

"We're coming!"

Leo took in the stranger's cold eyes and shuddered internally. This guy looked just as dangerous as Saki.

"I will kill you." The man waved a shirken in front of him. "But I still expect you to meet me tomorrow night so that will hold off for now."

Leo looked down at the pieces from the building's ledge on the ground and up at the shirken. He had no doubt that this man had caused his fall with one of his throwing stars.

"And if you don't meet me…" the man put the shirken to Leo's neck and slowly brought it across the turtle's green skin to leave sizeable gash. "Then I will pay you a visit at home by the following morning. Do I make myself clear?"

Leo glared hard at the man holding him up from falling to the pavement below. He nodded stiffly.

"Good."

The man let go, dropping him before Leo could comprehend that the guy had just let go of him. He flailed, but with nothing to grab onto, he smashed into a pile of trash cans with a resounding _thud._

Darkness came quickly, but not before he felt the pain flood his body. The faint cries of his brothers reaching his ears.

* * *

Leo groaned, pain flaring through him once more. He no longer felt the hard pavement beneath him, the steel of the trash cans, but something soft… like a blanket and pillow. He slowly squinted his eyes open, the bright lighting making him shut them once more.

"Leo?"

Leo waited a moment, trying to decipher who was talking to him. Opening his eyes once more, he saw a flash of purple before he recognized Donatello in front of him. "Don…"

"Yeah it's me Leo, you're going to be ok."

Leo just nodded, feeling himself slipping off.

Hands shook him.

"No Leo. Don't fall asleep yet."

Reluctantly, Leo opened his eyes once more, letting his brother shine a flash light into his eyes.

"Dude, you're awake!" Mikey rushed into the room, squeezing Leo in a bear hug. "Don't ever do that again!"

"I won't…" Leo said slowly as Mikey let go of him.

"You don't know what happened, do ya?"

Leo's eyes snapped up to the right.

Raph stood over him, not quite glaring with the concern in his eyes.

"I remember falling…" Leo murmured.

"The building gave away underneath ya," Raph muttered. "On purpose."

The confusion wrote itself over his face as he tried to comprehend what Raphael meant.

"We found a shirken on the ground near ya," Raph continued on. "Donny saw it falling with the building ledge."

"Really?" Leo asked.

Don nodded.

"Is he alright Donatello?" a voice from the door way inquired.

Leo's gaze followed the sound of the voice to his father's concerned gaze.

"Yes, he seems to be alright," Don confirmed. "Surprisingly no concussion."

"And why is that surprising my son?" Splinter made his way over to Leo's bed, grasping his son's hand gently.

"A fall from that height would've given him one, or at least some broken bones," Don explained. "The fact that he was able to momentarily stop his descent kept either from happening."

Leo's blood ran cold for a faction of a second. He didn't understand this mystery guy. He had saved him, yet he wanted to kill him. His attention snapped back to his family with Raphael's question.

"Was there any Foot around when you fell?"

Leo slowly thought through what had happened. Falling off the building, being caught by who he assumed to be this Dark Angel character from the note, getting cut and dropped… Nowhere did he see the infamous Foot flame. "No," he said truthfully. He would not bring his family into this business with the Dark Angel. He would find out what this guy's deal was before thinking about bringing the others in on this.

"Are you sure Leo?" Don pressed. "That cut on your neck is too straight to come from one of the falling rocks of the building."

Leo shook his head, stopping the motion as it spiked a headache. "I didn't see any ninjas…" he said weakly, trying to keep the pain of his head from his voice. He shut his eyes, trying to will it away.

"Yeesh, why didn't you say something Leo?" Don demanded.

Footsteps left and quickly returned.

Leo's eyes opened slowly as he watched his brother give him a shot of something. "What…"

"Pain reliever. A strong one," Don answered. "Now just get some rest."

Splinter squeezed his hand.

He caught a glimpse of his father's eyes, catching a soft, albeit concerned, smile from his father. "Just rest my son."

Leo nodded very slightly, allowing his eyes to close once more. He would need his rest if he were to meet Dark Angel so soon after this. He felt even more steadfast about keeping this from his brothers than ever before considering the threat he had just received. The three attempts on his life now... He almost shuddered as he slipped off to sleep. He didn't want his family dealing with that.

* * *

**Reviews please! :)**


	6. Deeper Suspicions of Trouble

**Wow, days have been going by fast with college and now a new job too. Hadn't meant to let two days pass before updating either of my fics, but I think I'll be getting back to the updating speed I had been doing. Sorta want to keep that up since I love these two so much. :D Anyway, enjoy this chap and please review. ;)**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 6 – Deeper Suspicions of Trouble**

Raph plucked a soda from the fridge and leaned back against the counter, chugging it down like he hadn't had a drink in ages. The soda halfway gone, he gripped the can tightly, gasping for breath. The drink did nothing but temporarily satisfy his thirst. "Eh… I need a beer…" he muttered, seriously thinking about dragging Casey out of bed for a bottle or two. His eyes flickered to the clock.

3 AM

It was very tempting to go drag the hockey masked vigilante out of bed.

"You ok?"

Raph's head snapped up to meet Donatello's gaze. "Fine," he muttered.

Don took a seat at the table, placing his chin in his hand, elbow on the table. He sighed.

Raph raised an eyeridge. "What's eatin' you?"

"Well that was a long fall Leo took… It just reminds me of… you know," Don trailed off again.

Yeah, he did know. It reminded him of the burning building Leo had been inside of all over again. He shook his head. "He's alright Donny. Maybe a little shook up before, but he's restin' now. He'll be alright," he repeated more to convince himself and banish old demons than to reassure his brother.

"Yeah… he always is," Don looked up at him and smiled.

Raph nodded and drained the rest of his soda. He glared at the can once it was empty and crushed it in his hand, throwing it into the trash afterwards. "It's not the fall you're worried about, is it?"

Don slowly looked up and shook his head. "That cut on his neck... I know it was way too straight to be caused by the falling building ledge. It was definitely made by a knife."

"But I thought he didn't see any ninjas," Mikey spoke up from the doorway.

Raph narrowed his gaze on the can, thinking carefully about the past couple of hours. Talking to his older brother just minutes before the patrol top side, the thrilled look on his brother's face at the time, the good patrol and time at Aprils…

The fall of the building ledge…

And this supposed cut…

"He had to have seen something," Raph muttered. "It absolutely can't be from the falling building pieces?" he asked Don.

Don shook his head. "No, it's just not possible."

Raph rubbed his chin, thinking on that. "He'd had to have seen something then."

"His depressed mood the other day," Mikey started as he took a place at the table. "Could it be from something else?"

"He said he wasn't depressed," Raph replied back, though wondering about that himself.

"Maybe not that much, but what exactly happened when he came home the other night?" Don asked.

Raph sighed, feeling like he'd been over this too much already. "He came home, look a little upset…" He frowned trying to better picture that night. "Now that you mention it… he looked pretty disturbed."

"Could someone be, you know, after him?" Mikey asked quietly.

Silence seemed to stretch throughout the kitchen.

"It's possible," Don finally spoke up. "The unusual late night, the cut…"

"If it's the Foot, why didn't Leo just say somethin' about it instead of hidin' it from us and lyin' about it," Raph growled, not too happy about the way it was looking.

"Maybe it's not the Foot," Don supplied.

"Who then? The Purple Dragons? They don't got enough of a brain to think somethin' like dis through."

"What about someone else?" Mikey asked.

"Who?" Raph demanded. He hated not knowing if there was someone after his brother and hated it even more that they didn't truly know who it was should that be the case.

Mikey shrugged. "Dunno. Though what if there really is no one after him?"

"There has to be," Don insisted. "There's no other way for there to be that straight of a cut on his neck…" he trailed off, hesitating.

"What is it?" Raph asked.

"It… it was near his jugular vein," Don said slowly, looking upward at them, a startled look in his eyes. "The cut stopped just before that vein."

"So?"

"He would've been in danger of bleeding out if it had been cut through."

"Maybe it was just where the guy stopped," Raph tried, getting a little more uneasy.

"It's possible," Don admitted.

Raph stood, shoving his chair away from him, and walked to the kitchen's door.

"Where're ya going Raphie?" Mikey asked, quickly following him.

"I'm gonna go have a look 'round dat alley," he muttered. If this was what was going on, there had to be some sort of clue, something to tell them who was there when Leo fell.

"I'm coming too then," Mikey said.

"Me too," Don said firmly.

Raph stopped just outside of the kitchen. He spun around, was about to reject the idea, but stopped and sighed. "Donny, yer with me then. Mikey keep an eye on Leo. Maybe he'll tell ya something about who dis guy is."

"But… but…" Mikey protested.

"It would probably be best Mikey," Don spoke up. "If we knew who exactly this was, it would help quite a bit."

Mikey's shoulders sagged in defeat. "Ok… you guys owe me then." He flashed them a smile, though without the usual energy behind it.

Raph grunted and turned for the door.

"Be careful my sons," Splinter said softly from behind.

Raph looked toward the voice from the couch, nodded, and entered the sewers, his purple banded brother right behind him.

"We will sensei," Don assured before they disappeared into the sewers.

The trip up to the alley was quiet and uneventful. Though Raph's mind continued to race, wondering what the hell was going on. When he and Donny got back, he was going to have a serious talk with his older brother no matter what time it was.

The red banded turtle stopped on the building where the rooftop's ledge had given away underneath his brother. "This is it," he mumbled, jumping down by the other side of the building with the use of the fire escape. He rounded the building to the alley they wanted and started his search. Beginning with the place Leo landed, he looked around carefully, turning over the broken building pieces. The only trace amount of blood he found, he knew had to be Leo's. He wiped his hand across it, smearing it a little bit more to draw less attention should someone wander down this alley collecting blood samples before the next rain came. Highly unlikely at all, but sometimes Leo's caution got the better of him. Like now…

Finding nothing of significance in that area, he turned to spot Donny hanging off the next building where they had seen Leo hanging hours earlier.

"Find anything?" he called up.

"Not sure."

Raph took out his shutho spikes and climbed up next to Don, where the purple clad turtle was waving some sort of device over a large ledge. He scowled and waited. "What're ya thinkin'?" he finally asked.

"If someone had caused Leo's fall, this looks like the most likely spot he would've been waiting," Don answered.

"So ya think he waited here until Leo was about to jump 'cross the buidlin'?" Raph asked doubtful. How could the guy know Leo would make that jump?

Don nodded. "It makes the most sense."

"But… Leo stopped his fall. Right here…"

"What if he didn't stop his fall? What if someone caught him?" Don mumbled slowly.

"Not that I don't mind Leo not goin' splat on the pavement, but why save 'im and give 'im a cut like dat?"

Don shook his head. "I don't know Raph. I just don't know. We really need to talk to Leo."

Raph nodded, seeing that they weren't going to get much farther with this until they found out more from Leonardo. "If ya're done, let's go den," he muttered, climbing down.

"Just a sec…" Don called down. He remained up on the building's ledge for a moment longer before climbing down also.

"Find anythin' more?"

"No," Don regrettably answered.

"K, let's go," Raph muttered, heading for home.

When they got back, Raph headed for the lab and stopped in his tracks, not spotting his brother on the cot they had left him on.

No Mikey either.

Or Master Splinter for that matter…

He ripped out his sai, concerned this creep who was after Leo knew where they lived. He couldn't really believe that was possible, but it just seemed a little too quiet in the lair right about now.

"What's up Raph?" Don asked quietly.

"Leo's not here." He spun around and jumped out at a dark shadow, pinning the figure he spotted to the ground. He shoved his sai against the figure's neck. "What've you done with Leo?" he demanded harshly.


	7. Answers

**And finally, another update. I have to say I think this is my longest chapter yet, so hopefully that will make up for the long wait. As I'm finishing up my college class, the updates are probably going to stay about the same as this, but rest assured, they are coming. Hopefully the timing will pick up again soon. Hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

**

**Chapter 7 - Answers**

He stared up into the red masked turtle's hateful gaze and swallowed hard as he felt the steel tip of the turtle's sai press against his neck. "Dude… you can put those things away now. Leo in his own room," he squeaked out, keeping very still.

"Mikey?" Don questioned.

The red masked turtle above him blinked. "Mikey?"

"Yeah bros, just little old Mikey. Now you want to do me a favor and let me up?" he asked cheerily even though he could feel his heart racing badly in his chest.

"Sorry…" Raph muttered, getting up and shoving his sai in his belt. "Thought you were someone else."

Mikey jumped up to his feet. "Who else would I be? Splinter? I think I'm kinda lacking in the fur department there Raphie. And you don't normally attack Sensei… right?"

Raph groaned and rubbed and hand down his face. "Not what I meant..."

Mikey just grinned at his brothers, before the smile fell from his face. "You find anything?"

Don shook his head. "No, we didn't actually find anything. Just expanded our theory."

"Well then, let's hear it."

"The ledge where Leo caught himself when he fell looks large enough for someone to have been sitting up there."

"So… someone caught him?" Mikey asked.

"It's possible. Would explain the cut too," Donny answered, rubbing his chin.

"Now we need to 'talk' to Leo about this," Raph grumbled, hitting one fist into his other hand.

Mikey chuckled lightly. "You're not gonna get anything out of him that way Raphie boy."

Raph glared at him and stalked off, heading in the direction of Leo's room.

"Where's Master Splinter?" Don asked, snapping Mikey back to attention.

"Oh, he's with Leo. Leo's awake by the way. Hasn't said much, but he definitely looks better," he said relieved. He couldn't stand to see his big brother hurt badly. Luckily it wasn't. Though that wouldn't stop his concern for his blue banded hero.

"We better get in there before Raph blows a gasket."

Mikey raised an eye ridge at him. "Things went that badly up there?"

"No, Raph's just fed up Leo doesn't seem to be telling us something."

Mikey nodded. He could relate right now. Something was definitely up. Why wouldn't Leo just trust them with his feelings or if there was something very wrong going on?

He headed to Leo's room with Don and stopped just inside the doorway at the scene before him.

"So when were you going to tell us huh?" Raph blasted.

Leo was attempting to sit up in bed, the faintest grimace crossing his face before it disappeared. "Tell you what Raph?"

"Oh don't go playin' dumb," Raph growled. "This guy who's after you. Who is it?" He stood over Leo's bed, his anger just oozing off of him.

Splinter put a hand on his hot tempered son's shoulder. "Raphael!" he paused, as if just hearing what his son had actually asked. "…someone is after Leonardo?"

Don stepped in, standing next to Splinter. "We're not sure, but that's what we suspect."

Mikey inched his way in further, cautious of how this might turn out.

Leo looked at his family, confusion written across his face. "Excuse me? What's after me now?"

"Not what bro," Raph seethed. "Who. And dat's what I'd like to know. So spill. What's really goin' on Leo?"

The blue banded turtle just gave Raphael a lost look and rubbed his forehead. "Why would you guys think that?" he asked softly.

"The main reason would be the cut on your neck," Don started. "It's seriously close to a vein that could do some damage. Additionally, it's too straight to be made by the rocks that fell from the building ledge. The edges would've been jagged had that been the case. We just want to help you, but we can't do anything if you don't tell us."

"Leonardo," Splinter spoke up softly. "If something is indeed going on, we must put a stop to it as a family. We must erase this threat before it becomes a bigger problem."

Leo looked away, a thought crease crossing his forehead.

"Come on bro," Mikey whined, hoping to get through to his brother. "We want to help get rid of the bad guy."

"We ain't just gonna sit on the sidelines while someone's out to get ya Leo," Raph growled.

The blue banded turtle kept his gaze down on the bed, silence stretching throughout the room.

"Please Leo…" Don whispered.

Silence ensued by a final sigh.

"His name is Dark Angel," Leo murmured, refusing to meet their gaze.

"And why didn't you tell us before?" Raph growled after a few more moments. "Already this nut could've killed you what twice now? When were you going to say something?"

"Three."

"Three in the morning. Look at the clock bro it's past three now."

"No," Leo looked up, his gaze hardened. "There were three attempts."

Mikey paled at his brothers words. Three? He was just glad his brother was in one piece. Who was this guy?

"Where?" Splinter asked sternly.

Leo looked back down. "One of the attempts was in an alley just before we went to see April." He reached over and pulled something out of his side table. Setting it on the bed in front of him, he pulled his hand away.

A gasp echoed through the room and Mikey was pretty sure it was from him. On the shirken in blood red letters was written the name Dark Angel.

"This is what flew at me in the alley, the reason I spun around so fast," Leo mumbled. He sighed and leaned back against his pillow.

Raph picked up the shirken, staring at it with disdain. His glare turned back to his older brother and narrowed. "And when exactly were you going to let us know about this?"

Leo's gaze remained cast down on the bed.

"You weren't, were you?" Raph growled.

The blue banded turtle didn't answer.

"No, you weren't! You don't care if this guy actually kills you at all. Just so long as we don't interfere. You want him to actually do something to you."

Mikey cringed. Raph didn't mean that. He couldn't mean that. Right?

Leo's gaze snapped up, eyes his narrowing to match that of his hot tempered brother. "No," he muttered almost coldly. "I wasn't. I wasn't going to let something from my time as 'Shade' interfere in your lives. I wasn't going to let this character hurt you or any of the others down. It's my problem to deal with. Not yours."

"Wait… Shade?" Don asked slowly.

Leo nodded. "He says he knows who I was," he muttered.

Mikey cringed. Not only was that a touchy subject for his older brother every once and awhile, but he couldn't imagine who besides the Foot would know about that. But… "Hey Leo… do you know if this Dark Angel guy is with the Foot?"

"No, well not really. He wore no Foot flame, but that doesn't mean that he isn't with them."

"And how exactly did he first contact you?" Raph questioned, anger still burning behind his eyes, despite the lack of intensity they had earlier.

Leo paused, his own anger melting away. "He… sent me a note."

"Do you still have it my son?" Splinter asked, concern laced within his voice.

The eldest turtle nodded, reaching into his pillow case. He pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on the bed. "I didn't want any of you to see this. I'm sure whoever it is will let this go eventually."

"Not after he's had it in for you," Raph muttered, picking up the note. His eyes narrowed once more after reading it. "He's just…"

Splinter looked sharply at him.

"…sick," Raph finished, squishing the paper within his hand. "And I can't believe Saki's put some sorta bounty on ya."

"I'd like to see that if I may," Don spoke up, his voice trembling slightly.

Raph shoved the paper into his hand and crossed his arms.

The room was quiet as Don read the note, concern showing deeper in everyone's eyes.

Mikey finally decided to look over Don's shoulder, not liking being left out about the contents of the note. Though after reading it, he couldn't help the shiver that traveled down his spine. The note sounded creepy. And Raph was right, Saki really did put some sort of amount on Leo's head. He bit his lip. Who else would be after Leo now?

"Do you remember who this might be?" Don asked quietly.

Leo shut his eyes as if thinking the question through. After a moment, he finally opened them again. He shook his head. "No. I don't think so."

"Well if something jogs your memory, be sure to tell us," Don requested.

Leo frowned.

"Leonardo," Splinter said softly.

Leo looked down again. "I will…"

Mikey's shoulder's dropped. He didn't really think Leo would tell them anything if he did remember. The thought put another damper on the normally cheery turtle. "So how do we fix this?" he asked curiously. The sooner they dealt with this Dark Angel guy, the better. Looking around, he could tell that the others thought this as well. Though he wasn't sure what they would do about Saki.

"We meet him," Raph growled. "Just like he said in the note."

"Do you really thing that is wise my son?" Splinter asked.

"We would be playing on his level," Don spoke up. "Wouldn't we be at a disadvantage?"

"Perhaps not if you scouted out the location beforehand. This threat must be dealt with before he brings anymore harm to your brother."

"Oh he won't be bringing any more harm to Leo," Raph muttered with a shake of his fist. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Mikey chuckled softly. This guy didn't know who he was in for. He plucked the note out of Donny's hand and read it again.

"_I know you where Shade. Saki knows you were Shade. Does your family know? That doesn't matter. What matters is your family's safety. Saki has placed a bounty on your head. If you don't want any harm to come to your family after I collect that bounty, meet me at Market and South Street. Maybe we can work out a deal. See you two nights from now Leonardo."_

_-__**Dark Angel**_

He gulped. Yep. That was one creepy note. The most disturbing was definitely Saki's bounty on Leo. Though he already knew the Shredhead hated his older brother, heck the tin hated each and every one of them, he was surprised Shredder hadn't put a bounty on any of them so far.

"First things first though," Don finally broke the silence. "When did you get this note Leo?"

"That night I came home late. I never saw him that night, just received that note," Leo explained.

"That means he's expecting ya tonight," Raph concluded.

Leo nodded.

"So how were you going to make it past us?"

"I… hadn't gotten that far. I didn't really think much about it since that fall," Leo admitted sheepishly.

Raph smirked. "Well no one's gonna get that bounty from Saki. Not unless he wants a substitute." He pounded a fist into his other hand. "And believe me. He's gonna get one."

Leo shook his head. "Just make sure you're careful."

"Oh we will be bro. Don't worry. We'll go tonight and be back before you know it."

"Wait… what?" Leo blinked confusion in his eyes.

"You are not coming with us," Raph said firmly. "No way."

"Raph," Leo said exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to let you get hurt because this guy wants me."

"And how many times am I going to have to tell _you_. We're not going to let you go alone. Especially with that fall you took."

Leo glared, sitting up straighter and crossing his arms.

Raph narrowed his gaze, his arms remaining crossed.

Mikey looked back and forth between his brothers. Nothing ever good ever came from one of these stare downs. "Raph… maybe he can just come with us?"

The red masked turtle turned his glare towards him. "You want Leo killed?"

"I'm not going to get killed."

"Shell no. Not after we get through with him. You're not coming."

"Yes. I am."

"No. You're not."

"Raphael."

"Leonardo."

Mikey swallowed as the silence began, each of the two brothers remaining firm in their stare.

"My sons," Splinter finally interjected.

Every eye slowly turned to their rat master.

"Leonardo, you will remain here tonight. Let your brothers deal with this. If this man has gotten to you three times now, he will not be hesitant to pull whatever it is he has in mind when you meet with him. With your brothers going to… dispatch of the problem, he may be dissuaded to not follow through with his intentions."

"Count on it," Raph muttered.

"And Raphael," Splinter continued. "After you all have had some rest, you will go and scout out the alley. Leonardo included. Cover up well. Being out in the daylight is… dangerous."

"Yeah yeah we know. More of a chance to be seen."

Splinter hardened his gaze on Raphael as the silence ensued.

"Uh… sorry sensei."

Splinter nodded and turned his gaze to the rest of them.

"Sounds good," Mikey said tentatively. Not that he didn't want to go up to the surface in the daylight, the thought sounded totally cool, but he knew these things took time. As sensei said, they'd have to get some rest. He looked at the clock to see five in the morning. They had been up all night. And he was quickly feeling the effects. Though after some shut eye, they'd go check out the alley, but then there was planning. And how were they going to have a good enough plan if Leo remained here? But he couldn't let his older brother get hurt…

The others reluctantly echoed their approval of the plan, no one really wanting to argue with their father.

"Good," Splinter said. "Now get some rest. You will all need it."

Mikey nodded and followed his brothers out of Leonardo's room. He noticed Raph hesitate and look back at Leo, but then stomp off to his own room. Inside his room, Mikey could only flop down on his bed, exhausted from the night's events. Getting a sai put to your throat added quite a bit to that feeling too. His eyes quickly shut, sleep taking him within minutes.


	8. Worried

**Ack… look at the time! Been waaay too long since I updated this. Personally I blame work and college, though that doesn't seem like enough of an excuse. I really want to see this get going again. So hopefully I'll have more in a couple days. Anyway, read and enjoy. Reviews are much appreciated as well. ;)

* * *

**

**Chapter 8 - Worried**

Leo watched his family filed out of his room to get some rest. His eyes slowly drifted to the clock.

5:30am.

He groaned and lay back down. Not only did he have someone after him or that he had fallen off a building, getting hurt in the process, he now had his family to worry about. They weren't supposed to find out about the stupid note. Now one of his brothers had it. They were going to meet Dark Angel. Not him. They were going to get themselves killed by getting in the way. He was the one who was supposed to put an end to this, definitely not them.

Why wouldn't they just understand that? He was trying to protect them. Trying to keep the past in the past where it belonged.

Leo drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. He knew with Master Splinter backing Raphael up, discreet as it was, he was going nowhere tonight. And if he couldn't go with to meet with Dark Angel, he would at last make sure they had plenty of exit routes and back up plans. After all, with the three attempts on his life, he wanted his brothers to be prepared for each and every little thing. The only consolation he had was that they didn't know that Dark Angel knew where they lived. That in itself was probably a bad thing though… What if he came after meeting his brothers or worse yet followed his brothers home?

He had to tell them.

Just… not right now. Raphael would yell at him again for sure. And besides, they needed their rest as well.

With that in mind, Leo let his eyes close and drifted off into a dreamless, yet restless sleep.

The next time he awoke, he could hear voices. Not that loud, but still enough to still wake him up. Groggily, he rubbed his eyes and sat up gingerly. There was no spinning this time and no raging headache. He rolled out of bed and left his room, finding the others in the kitchen. The voices stopped as soon as he entered. He eyed them as he sat down. "What's going on?"

Mikey got up from the table and grabbed something from the counter, putting a plate of pizza in front of Leo and sitting back down.

"We were just discussing if it would be wise for you to accompany us to scout out this alley," Splinter explained.

Leo didn't even touch the pizza. How could he not go see the alley? He had a pretty good idea of what it looked like, but he needed to know every detail so he wouldn't worry as badly tonight. He couldn't help but glance at the clock at that thought.

7PM

It was nearly time for the meeting. If they wanted to go do this, they had to do it now.

"He's not going to be there now," Leo said, trying to convince them.

"Dat's true…" Raph muttered.

"We just don't want you to get hurt Leo," Mikey spoke up.

Leo slouched in his chair. "I know, but I can't let you guys get hurt either. We need to plan for each contingency. We already know he's smart."

They all looked at each other and turned their gaze to Leo.

"Ok Leo. We'll all go, look around, and plan. After that, the three of us will wait for Dark Angel while you and sensei come back home," Don said.

"We'll find out what his deal is and put an end to it," Raph muttered firmly.

"Very well my sons. Leonardo, we shall go after you have finished your pizza so you do not lose your strength." The elderly rat started out of the room, disappearing after a look at his sons.

Leo ate his pizza in silence. They couldn't really be going through with this right? Going to meet up with the killer... This was not going to go over well at all.

The trip to the alley from the lair took no time at all. Leo was even surprised they hadn't run into some street punk that Raphael would no doubt want to take out by any means possible. Being in the alley where the meeting would take place seemed to unnerve everyone by the look of unease written across every single face. Leo could almost feel a cold tingle slipping down his back. He shook it off and inspected the alley. It was time to get down to business. "So this is the spot…"

His eyes swept over every inch of the area. It was really the kind of alley where the far end split off into a T. He slowly walked over to that area. "Most likely he'll want to meet right here," his thoughts being spoken aloud almost without him realizing it. "There are two escape routes here and a fire escape down all three alley lanes."

"Plus it'll probably be almost pitch black here later," Raph muttered.

"The perfect place to hide," Leo agreed.

"So uh… what do we do then?" Mikey asked.

Leo turned around to face them once more. "Use the escape routes to our advantage, not his."

"So essentially, we stand here at the T and block the area so we have two routes and he only has one?" Donny questioned.

"About that, yes." Leo peered at the ground a few feet away in one of the branching lanes. There was a manhole cover that was visible in the fading daylight that might not be visible in the dark. "And a manhole as well," he spoke aloud. "So you guys will have three different routes to use."

"Dat's all good," Raph muttered. "But I want ta take 'im out t'night. Not deal with escape routes."

"And what if one of you gets hurt Raphael? You have to know and plan which route would be more beneficial for you to take," Leo threw back.

"He is right my son," Splinter spoke up. "If you do not know all of your options, you will be at a disadvantage."

Raph just shrugged and set about stalking through an alley lane.

"Whatcha lookin' for Raphie?" Mikey question.

"Exits, escape routes…"

"Hiding places," Donny suggested. "What if he were to try to jump us when we get here later?"

Leo realized that that was a very real possibility. "Search every inch of the alley for a hiding place as big as someone three quarter the size of Hun. If it's that big he'll fit."

"He's really that big?" Mikey squeaked.

Leo nodded. "Yes."

"Then let's get searchin'," Raph muttered, slowly stalking down the alley lane once again.

Mikey took the second with Donny, going a bit fast to actually be searching for a hiding place. Though Don trailed at a slower pace, assured to catch anything Mikey was missing.

Satisfied that two alley ways were being searched, Leo took the third with Splinter. He combed it over slowly and only found two places that would hide a man that large. One being behind the large dumpster or possibly inside it, the other an over sized ledge like in the alley where he had fallen off the building. Satisfied that there were no more for this alley, he and Splinter walked back to the T, joining the others. "Anything?" Leo asked.

"Three of dem down the one behind us," Raph muttered. "Just barely big enough to hide someone, but it would do."

"And just one down the third," Donny answered.

"Wasn't much down there," Mikey added.

Leo nodded. So a total of six. "It would be best to make sure he stays in the alley with only one place to hide from you. Give him fewer options to gain the upper hand."

"Wise choice my son," Splinter praised. "Though he will no doubt be prepared for anything. As you three should be," he said firmly, eyeing the three younger turtles.

"Don't worry sensei. We'll be ready," Raph reassured him.

Splinter nodded. "Then let us return home. The day light still makes me uneasy."

"Hai sensei," Leo answered. "I feel the same way."

"It's not that bad," Raph stubbornly spoke up.

"Yeah, I love the feel of the sun," Mikey said enthusiastically.

"Regardless, it would be wise to return to the sewers. It will be dark within a couple hours and then you may venture back up for the meeting."

"Hai sensei," three voices said reluctantly.

Leo led the trek back to the lair, lost in thought. Not even the fight with a purse snatcher they'd found had fully brought him out of his thoughts for long. He was beyond worried for his brothers and yet the meeting time was not yet here. Entering the lair, he watched his family split up to wait out the next two hours. They had the basics down. They couldn't really plan more beyond that due to any number of situations they could find themselves in. Raphael already knew most of the ways to be able to handle what might happen. It just would make him feel better if he were along as well.

The two hours crept by slowly as the family waited for darkness. There was no mistaking the impatience in Raphael, the nervousness in Michelangelo, and the anxiety in Donatello. Though as 11pm finally reared its head, the brothers were calm, cool, and collected. They were ready. Leo was not. His worry had only escalated. A cup of tea had not put his fears to rest and neither had an hour of mediation. He sighed. Maybe a second cup of tea later would help.

Leo followed his brothers to the door. "Be careful," he said firmly.

Raph looked at him, his smirk disappearing slightly. "Don't worry bro. We'll be fine."

"I know…" Leo mumbled.

"Yeah don't worry. We'll have this fixed in no time bro," Mikey said enthusiastically.

Don chuckled. "A little over exaggerated, but he's right."

Leo sighed and nodded, watching as he brothers left the lair. A hand rested on his shoulder.

"A cup of tea my son?"

Leonardo turned to his sensei. "Hai, you read my mind sensei."

Splinter smiled softly at his son. "Hopefully we will get your nerves soothed yet."

The blue banded turtle chucked slightly. Entering the kitchen, the tea was prepared. He waited at the table as Splinter prepared it. The aroma filled the kitchen, attempting to soothe his senses. Two cups were soon set on the table. Leo gently grasped one and sipped it. He sighed, enjoying the taste, hoping he could set some of his worry for his brothers aside. However he didn't think the worry would go away anytime soon.

As time went by, he was proven right. The ache of worry not only had not gone away, but increased. He licked his lips, still sitting at the table after an hour had passed. They weren't home yet. Had something gone wrong? Or had he just not let enough time pass yet?

"I will return soon my son," Splinter said gently.

"Are you going to find them?" Leo asked, looking up quickly.

The elderly rat shook his head. "I believe they are fine and will return very soon. However, I am going to fetch an herb from the collection within my chambers. Perhaps it would be successful in easing your nerves."

Leo's gaze followed his father out of the kitchen. If his father had something that would put him at ease even slightly, he wouldn't feel the need to watch his own breathing. Once he had almost caught himself breathing harder then he should have. If he would have let that increase, he might have started to hyperventilate and that was one thing he would not let himself do.

Ten minutes went by and Splinter had not yet returned.

Frowning, he continued to watch the kitchen door.

Another ten went by and still no rat or herb for tea.

Slowly getting up, he left the kitchen to go find his Master. Half expecting to run into his sensei in the living room, he was mildly surprised to find it clear. "Must still be in his room…"

He continued on, wondering what had caught his sensei's attention. He didn't know his sensei to say he would be right back and then not come back. Mainly Mikey took up that roll...

The door to his sensei's room was open, the inside looking empty from where Leo was. Frowning, he stopped at the doorway. Still nothing in the bedroom.

"Sensei?" Leo called, wondering if Splinter could be behind something, though nothing in his room looked big enough to hide him.

A rough hand encircled around Leo's chest, a second hand covering his mouth.

Leo's eyes widened as he jerked, trying to get loose of the arms that held him. The figure felt bulky and much too tall to be his sensei, yet didn't have the feel of one of his brothers.

"I told you to meet me. Not your brothers," a voice hissed.


	9. Waiting and Stalking

**Well the long awaited chapter is here… -,- Hopefully the next one will come sooner, but enjoy. ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Waiting and Stalking**

Raph tapped his foot impatiently. They were blocking two of the alleyways of the so they would not get ambushed into a corner, going according to plan, and yet the Dark Angel character had not shown himself yet. It had been an hour already. "Where is he?" he murmured under his breath.

"Patience Raph," Don scolded. "He never said a time in the note."

"Yeah dude, it could anywhere from right now to… well sunrise I guess," Mikey chipped in.

Raph growled and stalked back and forth within the alley. He didn't like this at all. Something about this wasn't right. He didn't know what though. He was just… unnerved.

* * *

Leo squirmed, trying to get free from the grip Dark Angel had on him. How could he have been so stupid? He had never thought that Dark Angel might leave the meeting place once he saw his brothers. Though he had said the next morning before, not tonight… But then… what about his brothers now? Where they ok?

"Settle down," the man hissed. "Unless you want me to go back for your brothers. They are safe and sound in the alley for now… Didn't even see me watching them…"

Leo's blood ran cold at Dark Angel's words. How long had he watched his brothers before coming here? Another thought slowly crept into his mind. What had he done to Master Splinter? His eyes continued their search of the lair finding the rat lying on the floor partially behind the couch. His struggles froze at the sight of the blood running down Splinter's chin, a muffled gasp escaping the blue banded turtle.

"Don't worry, he's not dead. Yet…"

Leo jerked forward, trying to catch his attacker by surprise. He managed to get himself slightly loose before he felt his feet be swept out from under him, a large weight following him down. Hitting the ground, he let out a groan and bit down on the hand covering his mouth by accident, though he felt no regret over it.

A yelp echoed through the lair followed by a growl. "Dang it."

Leo twisted, trying to get out from under the massive weight pinning him down.

* * *

Mikey watched his older brother in red go back and forth endlessly. The agitated energy poured off of him in waves enough to cause Mikey to start to worry a little bit too. All most half hour had gone by since Raphael's first outburst. Now his red banded brother was constantly growling about stalkers being late.

The thought of a stalker after his eldest brother unnerved him more when that title was put to this Dark Angel character. And they were going to meet this guy very soon? That sent a few more shivers down his spine. What were they thinking? The guy may be after Leo, but in his opinion they still needed Leo for this. Or at the very least Splinter. So why had he stayed home with Leo? Maybe to protect him? But… the guy didn't know where they lived. Right?...

* * *

Dark Angel narrowed his eyes, pushing his weight down on Leonardo's back a little more to discourage the twisting and struggling. He clenched and unclenched the hand that the blue terrapin had bitten. He really hadn't expected the blasted turtle to bite him. "This bounty better be worth it…" he muttered under his breath.

Not wanting to take much longer with this, he pulled the length of rope off of his belt and sat up slightly, jerking both of Leonardo's arms behind the turtle's shell. He quickly secured the turtle's hands and bent over him, whispering in Leo's ear. "Now, we're going to go to a place of mine. You can either walk…" he unsheathed a small army knife from his ankle and put it next to Leo's neck. "Or I'll tie you more securely and just carry you there myself." He pressed it lightly into Leo's skin. A little warning never hurt anything.

"Which will it be?" he asked soft and coldly.

* * *

Don aimlessly pulled his bo off of his back, twirling a couple times in his hands.

Raphael snapped his head to him as soon as the bo left his back, glaring with questioning eyes.

Don just shrugged. He hadn't seen anything. He was just… bored, bored as Mikey actually. The orange turtle was now sitting upon one of the alley's dumpsters and playing with one of his nunchucks. Which is why Don started lazily twirling his bo staff, though he hadn't realized it until Raphael had started glaring at him.

"How long are we going to wait Raphie?" Mikey complained.

Raphael went back to his pacing. "Until he shows," the growled answer came.

Mikey sighed and looked to Donny.

The purple banded turtle just shrugged once more. They had to wait. Or this Dark Angel guy would continue to plague them. Worse, the guy would be a bother to Leo. Leonardo couldn't stay cooped up in the lair all the time. One day he would go as stir crazy as Raphael if that happened. No, they needed this Dark Angel guy to show up tonight. Just… how much longer would it take?

* * *

Leo clenched his fists, frustrated at the fact that the guy had been able to tie them behind him. He winced at the small blade digging into him. "I'll walk," he ground out.

"Good choice."

The weight disappeared and the blue banded turtle was hoisted to his feet.

"Now walk," the man growled with a shove.

Leo stumbled forward, trying to keep his feet under him. He headed for the lair door, mind on overdrive, trying to think of a way out of this one. He passed by his sensei's unconscious body and froze.

"Get moving," the man hissed behind him, giving him another shove.

Leo continued on to the door and stopped, obviously not able to open the door. He narrowed his eyes and turned to look at the man, this Dark Angel. The man looked just as stalky as the night before dressed in all black. Even his face was covered with a black fabric mask. Though there was no Foot flame just as he remembered. Well that ruled out the Foot, but who was this guy really?

The man's gloved hand shot out for the door, opened it, and glared at the turtle.

Leo turned, needing no more incentive at the moment to get going. Those dark eyes were filled with malice. Surely this wouldn't be the time to cross the man. If he bided his time correctly, possibly he could either make a break for it or reach his shell cell. His brothers were most likely getting bored waiting for the man that wasn't going to show anymore. Hopefully they would return soon. Perhaps they would even run into him and Dark Angel.

He was led through the sewers for miles, going through twists and turns that would confuse most people. Though catching glimpses of the man behind him, it didn't look like he was lost at all, but rather analyzing each turn with calculated eyes, much like Leo. Much like the turtle was doing now, searching for a good enough spot to try to break away.

His break came when they reached a darker area of the sewers that made multiple short twists and turns before finally continuing straight. As soon as he hit the first curve, he broke out into a sprint, trying his best to keep his footfalls silent. By the third turn, he heard a growl and a low curse. Leo kept going hitting the fourth and final curve at a dead on run and sprinted through the straightaway. He had no idea how fast Dark Angel was, but he wasn't going to slow down any to watch and find out.

Leo's breathing came out a little faster as he could feel the adrenalin rush kicking in full force, his mind giving each tunnel a more thorough analyzation. If he could just find a crevice he could hide in, he could double back for home, wake his sensei, and be free of the ropes that bound his wrists. He first had to find that crevice or some other hole to hide away in, some way to lose his pursuer. A large ladder was out of the question, bound as he was, he wouldn't be able to climb up it. If he found a short enough one, perhaps he could leap up it, but that was if the manhole cover wasn't on above it. The chances of that were slim enough for Leo to ignore that thought. He continued on, not hearing the man behind him. Though just because he couldn't hear him, didn't make him feel any better about his situation. Most likely he was still back there.

The hole came up fast, just after a turn in the tunnels, shining out brightly to him like a beacon of hope.

Leo dove into the small crevice and shoved himself as deep into as he could, pulling his legs to him in attempt to shrink back as much as he could.

Not five seconds later a pair of black legs raced past the hole in a blur where Leo hid.

He slowly released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. Once his heart was calm enough, he leaned forward to listen. Losing the man briefly was not an option. He had to be sure that Dark Angel had indeed run far enough off that Leo could sneak away and back to the lair. Then he could wake his sensei and go find his brothers.

Not completely certain, he guessed roughly fifteen minutes had gone by. Silence had ensued throughout that time. Slow and cautiously, Leo peered from his hiding place, half expecting the man to be right there waiting for him to stick his head out.

Nothing there, Leo breathed out a breath and quietly crawled out of his hiding place. Looking back and forth through the tunnels and finding it clear, he back tracked the way he had run, heading for home. He tugged at the ropes, hoping to pull his hands free, but no dice. The ropes held firm, scraping against his skin. Letting out an aggravated sigh, he left it for his sensei to help undo.

The brisk walk through the tunnels was quiet. He half wondered where Dark Angel had gone, hoping against hope he hadn't gone back to where his brothers were. He should not have let them make him tell them what was going on. If he had just gone to meet the man himself they wouldn't be as nearly deep in this mess as they were. Dark Angel wouldn't be as ticked off either. Perhaps then they could've talked a way out of this. Or was that just wishful thinking?

The side swipe came out of nowhere, causing Leo to crash to the ground in surprise, his head bouncing off the brick floor of the sewer tunnel.

"You try that again, I'll turn you into mincemeat faster than you can breathe your brothers' names," the dark voice hissed threateningly.

Leo slightly nodded, his head throbbing and his vision fading fast. His last thought was knowing he had to stay awake and get out of the Dark Angel's grip, who had picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. He had to get loose…


	10. Gone

**Update time! Yay! I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I would hope for soon. Anyway, enjoy. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Gone**

Splinter twitched as he slowly regained consciousness. Other than the pain that flared through his jaw and skull, everything seemed to be intact. He slowly sat up, looking about the lair from what he could see from his position. Nothing looked disturbed that he could tell. It had been the same with the trip to his room not too long ago, or at least he did hope that not too much time had lapsed while he was unconscious.

He had been on his way back from his room with the herb for Leonardo's tea when the sense of a foreign figure emanated from the living area. The presence felt both dangerous, and what he thought, maybe a little curious or lost. Though whatever was mixed in with the presence, it was still intruding in their home. Remaining silent, he had slipped closer to where he had thought it was hiding. However he found nothing there. The right hook to his jaw took him by surprise, striking him hard enough to be knocked over. Surely he would've made a sound upon impact on the floor. He was robbed of this reassurance that would alert his son in the kitchen when the intruder caught him, laying him gently on the floor. He wore a dark mask over his face, but he could still see two cold eyes poking slightly through the fabric. The next thing he knew was the pain that radiated through his skull followed by the darkness that he knew he could only experience from being knocked unconscious.

Now that he was awake, he truly hoped nothing had happened to his son. With the recent threat against Leonardo, there was no doubt in his mind that the intruder was this Dark Angel character that had given his son the note. What worried him the most was how the man had found them and how he had gotten inside their home. Donatello had taken many precautions to prevent something like this from happening. So how could someone bypass the security that was put up? He had no idea how something like that might be done, so he concerned himself with more pressing matters, searching the lair for his eldest son.

He slowly stood up, careful to be sure there was no unsteadiness from his ordeal. Satisfied he would be alright, he set about making his way to the kitchen. His heart ached at finding it empty. The only thing of significance that was out of place was the tea cup on the table. Leonardo always put his cup in the sink when he was finished with it. Even with waiting for the herb that he was getting for his son, Leonardo would've either drank the tea as is or dumped it if he had taken too long. What disturbed him even more was that he knew Leonardo would've been at his side upon waking up if he was still home and able to do so. Splinter turned about slowly, looking for the shell cell his brainy son had given him long ago. He found it in his room, right where he had put it while looking for the herb. He rubbed his chin as he looked upon the buttons and pressed the purple one.

_"Sensei?" Donatello's voice came through. "Has something happened?"_

"Yes Donatello. I believe the man you have been waiting for is the one who has broken into our home. Tell me, are you three alright?"

A gasp echoed followed by two more concerned voices, apparently trying to wrestle the phone away from Donatello.

_"Are you ok sensei?" Raphael demanded._

"I am unharmed, but I believe your brother has been taken."

_"But how did he get in? How did he find us?"_

"I do not know my son," Splinter answered. "Perhaps Donatello may be able to tell us, but right now we must focus on finding Leonardo."

Murmuring followed before Donatello's voice once again flowed from the shell cell. "And he's nowhere in the lair?"

"I do not believe so, but I have only been in the kitchen and main area. I will check the rest of our home, though I believe it would be wise for you three to return home as soon as you can. Tell me, did this character meet with you at all?"

"No Sensei, we've waited for three hours now. It's been quiet all night."

Splinter sighed. "I fear he may have seen you and have come immediately here." He rubbed his chin once more. "We must hurry. We do not know what he will do with Leonardo or even if he's gotten very far from the lair."

"It's a possibility that he would get lost within the tunnels…" Don said slowly. "We'll be there as soon as we can Master Splinter."

"Thank you Donatello." Splinter put the cell within his robe once the call had ended, turning to search the rest of their home. Perhaps the man and Leonardo were still within the lair. He could only hope that would be so.

* * *

Leo groaned as his eyes started to flutter open, his gaze slowly looking at his surroundings. He had no clue where he might be, however he knew he wasn't in the sewers any more. The walls looked smooth like sheetrock, but felt cold like cement. The feel of it reminded of him of that of a warehouse. He sighed, not seeing much more of use to tell him where exactly this warehouse would be. The room was still pretty dark, though he could make out a table at the far end with straps hanging off of it. He attempted at the rope around his wrists, testing to see if it had come loose even a little bit in the ordeal since the man had first tied him up. He sighed when there was still no give in the rope.

A creak to his left alerted him to a door opening, stilling his movements. His gaze matched with that of a large man clothed in black with a black face mask on. His eyes narrowed. "Dark Angel I presume."

The man chuckled lightly. "You presume well."

"What do you want?"

He shut the door behind him, coming over to squat down in front of Leo. "You know what I want. Didn't I make that clear in the note?"

Leo frowned. Of course he had. It was all about Saki's bounty, but that still couldn't be everything to it. "The money from the bounty?"

"Bingo." Dark Angel traced a finger along the cut on Leo's neck, the turtle jerking his back. "But I want to have a little fun to myself before I turn you over to the Foot's leader."

Leo felt his heart rate speed up slightly, wondering just what he was going to do to him. He made it his resolve to stay strong, refusing to show more for weakness in front of this man.

The man held up half a broken device, his fingers rubbing the side of the frayed shell cell. "I'd really rather your brothers didn't come between us again. This isn't about them. At least not right now." He threw the broken cell behind him, letting it clatter against the cement floor.

"Who are you?" Leo demanded. He really didn't seem like anyone that he or his family had come in contact with before.

"I'm just who I said I am," the man whispered. "The Dark Angel. But you really should remember me. We spent so much time together Shade." He reached up and removed the fabric face mask, a smirk being revealed upon his lips. "Don't you remember me?"

Leo took in the dark hair and brown eyes, the chiseled face filled with hard, but amused lines. The face becoming familiar as his surroundings faded.

_Shade stood atop one of the cities skyscrapers, looking down upon the citizen that roamed among the streets. He was still trying to find out why he had come back to the city again. This was his third time back and he had no clue why he had done so. The second time had started the very first vision of the strange turtles that played on both the rooftops and within the sewers, always coming close to or entering a strange whole in the wall. _

_"What're you up to?" a new voice asked slyly._

_He turned to take in the muscular man behind him. The dark, but amused face who held his__ hands__ leisurely in the pockets of his dark blue jeans. Shade shrugged. "Not sure yet," he answered back._

_The man closed the distance between them, gazing down at the street beside Shade. "Well there's a lot of fun to be had in the city. I could show you a thing or two if you'd like."_

_Shade gave that some thought and sighed __as he turned__to look at the street below once more.__ He'd really rather just leave the city __again__, but there had to be a reason he kept coming back. "Anything particular you have in mind?"_

_"I hear the Purple Dragons are actually making headway against the Foot this month. We could shove them back to where they belong."_

_"Who're they?" Shade asked._

_The man blinked at him. "You have a lot to learn about this city. Though once you know, it'll be a blast to stay."_

_Shade relented with a nod. "Just who are you though?"_

_"Consider me your Dark Angel since I have much to show you. But what may I call you?"_

_"Shade."_

_"Interesting name my friend. Interesting name."_

Leo blinked, his vision of the present returning, eyes widening upon the figure before him.

"So you do remember me. Good. I had hoped you hadn't forgotten." Dark Angel stood and pulled Leo to his feet, pushing him over to the table.

Leo's feet went along in the direction the Dark Angel was shoving him, partly due to the shock of actually have known this man and the fact that the man was not giving him any chance to push back against him anyways. "But how did you find me?"

"And your home?"

Leo pursed his mouth shut, not wanting to give him the satisfaction that the lair had in fact been his and his family's home.

Dark Angel snickered. "Yes, I believe that was your home. But to answer your question, it was your ranting as your time as Shade that let me know just where you're old home was. You spoke of it often, wondering about this strange whole in the sewers. Saki had told me wanted to get rid of a meddlesome turtle. He wanted me to be able to catch you and deliver you to your death. Imagine the surprise I get when he shows me a picture of you. I knew those visions had to have some merit to them after all."

Leo's frown deepened. He truly didn't remember the first of the visions that had started, but as the man continued to explain, he did remember ranting about the frequency of the visions becoming more and more, describing them as he did so. He stopped in front of the table, and tried one more time to pull his hands free of the ropes, appalled that he had been the one to tell this man where his home was even if it was unintentionally.

"Give it up. You're tied nice and tight. Soon to be a bit tighter."

He was suddenly swiped off his feet bridal style and laid down on the table. Not wanting to be strapped down, he attempted to sit up to swing himself off.

Dark Angel shoved him back down with a smirk, making the blue banded turtle see stars. "Not so fast Leonardo."

He winced from the impact of his head on the table and couldn't comprehend his feet and thighs being strapped down in time. As soon as he did realize it, he quickly attempted to sit up again, not knowing how he would get himself off the table now. Leo was surprised when he didn't get shoved back down again.

Dark Angel came behind him, the sharp blade of a knife slipping between his wrists, breaking the rope free from him.

He pulled his hands in front of him and rubbed his wrists for a moment, calculating both his and the man's movements. He could either lunge forward to untie his legs or twist around to knock out the man, giving him more time to get free. He chose the second option without hesitation and twisted around to launch into a fast punch that Raphael had said would get deadly if he wanted it to. His fist hit nothing but air as it appeared that the Dark Angel was nowhere behind him. He shifted around and felt a small knife at his neck.

"Nice try," Dark Angel replied smoothly. "But I will get my time with you. Now lay back down."

Leo contemplated rejecting that order, but the knife at his throat, near to the first cut this man had given him, gave him too much incentive to go against what was asked of him. He slowly laid back down, his arms being pulled above him and secured down.

"Thank you," the man replied smoothly.

He gave a short snort. Like he would actually be saying you're welcome to the man. Leo kept himself calm to be ready for a chance to either break free of the straps or to break free of Dark Angel once the man himself freed him of the bindings.

Dark Angel pulled a briefcase out from under the table and set it beside Leo. Opening it, he pulled out wires that he began to attach to the turtle. "Do you know how many deaths are done by electrocution?"

Leo kept still as the wires were attached, knowing his predicament was futile at the moment. Not sparing the man an answer, he held his tongue.

"Hundreds, thousands. Even in our own country. Mostly just for those on death row, however you're not really on death row. Not yet at least. I'm just curious how long a turtle would last. I really don't have your death in mind."

Leo swallowed, trying to hold onto his firm resolve to stay silent. Anything he said now might anger the man and that wouldn't be good at all. The pain came a moment later, coursing through him faster than he could've imagined, more painful than he could've thought. It seemed to go on forever, his limbs jerking in their restraints, thrashing against the table, trying to pull away from the wires that lay suctioned to his skin.

The electricity stopped suddenly, Leo's whole body vibrating before his brain told him he was no longer being shocked, that all was still once more.

"Not bad. I'll give you a few minutes before round two. If you can last through all four rounds… I'll see that you're not in horrid shape when you're handed over to Saki. You'll have to have some strength to attempt an escape right?" Dark Angel snickered and left the room, leaving Leonardo to pant, waiting for this breath to return.

He tried to relax, but that was easier said than done. Just how long was that first round? Would the next three be shorter, longer, or the same? He took in a breath a bit easier and began pulling at the straps. He had to be free before Dark Angel returned for the next round.


	11. Ultimatum

**Whooo update! :D Hopefully the wait wasn't unbearable this time… Next update will be scheduled for Friday due to my recent update kick. ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Ultimatum **

Raph stalked into the lair, majorly ticked off. Not only did the stalker not show himself at the alley, he had found their home. He broke in and managed to snatch Leo even with Splinter there as well. He looked around as he stood in the center of their lair. Leo was nowhere to be seen. Splinter was coming from Leonardo's room, a worried look upon his face.

"He's not here?" Don asked from Raph's right.

"I am sorry my sons, but I have searched everywhere within our home. He is not here," Splinter answered sadly, worry evident in his eyes.

Raph barely stopped a growl from making it past his throat, his fists clenching and shaking in his anger. Leo should have just told them what was going on the first place instead of hiding it. Was he trying to get himself killed? A quick flashback back to Leo's genuine laughter just yesterday told him no, but that still didn't take away his worry or his anger to disguise that worry.

"So what do we do now?" Mikey asked. "How did he get in?"

"He shouldn't have been able to…" Don said heading towards his computers.

Raph followed him with a scowl. They had to be searching for Leo right now. That creep could be nearby and here they were wasting precious time trying to figure out how he had gotten inside in the first place. "We don't have time for that Don. They could still be close by. We have to go now!"

"I have to check the security cameras first. If it shows them leaving, it will tell us which way to go."

Raph blew out a breath and waved Don on to continue. He knew that would save them some time, but he didn't like it any better. He crossed his arms impatiently, waiting as Don scanned the last few hours on their security tapes.

"There!" Mikey cried out excitedly, pointing at the screen showing Leo exiting the lair, hands tied behind him, followed by a black clothed man. "Dude, he herding Leo out into the sewer tunnels."

"At least he is unharmed," Splinter spoke softly from behind them.

"Yeah, fer now," Raph muttered. He knew there was no telling how long the man would keep him that way. "Let's go!"

"What about his shell cell Donny?" Mikey asked. "Can't you use that to track him as well?"

"Well yeah… I could," Don said as if he hadn't thought of it before.

Raph raised an eye ridge as Don started to do so. "So why didn't you try that first?"

"Well to be honest, I was thinking they would still be within the lair or at least nearby," Don explained. "But from the video feed, it looks like they were going to go deep within the tunnels. If they had stayed nearby we wouldn't have needed the tracker."

He rubbed his forehead. True, they probably wouldn't have needed it then, but it would have still made it faster.

"Find him yet Don?" Mikey asked impatiently.

"No…" Don tapped at the keys of his computer until he saw a blip appear.

Raph glared at the screen, trying to decipher where that was. "Isn't that here?"

"Yes, but this is the location from a few hours ago. I don't see his signal now. If we can track where he was taken before it went offline, we'll have a better chance of knowing where to search." Don tapped at his keyboard some more, a satisfied smile crossing his face. "It looks like he was going in circles for awhile."

"No doubt Leonardo's doing, trying to stall his attacker," Splinter murmured in thought.

"But then it continues on towards the harbor. It doesn't make it there, the signal disappears a good half hour from the the harbor, but there's no mistaking that that's the destination.

"Then let's go," Raph growled out. He clutched his sai, wanting to rip into this Dark Angel guy with his blades. His hands fell from his sai as he as he tried to rein in a little patience, stalking out of Don's lab. "Comin' guys?"

He heard feet following him as he stopped at the door, barely waiting for them to join him.

"Go on my sons, I will wait here. Perhaps Leonardo has found some way to escape and is on his way back even now," Splinter said hopeful.

If only that were true, Raphael had a hard time believing that. Though he wasn't going to say anything like that to Splinter. Their father had to have some kind of hope to cling to. He would like some too, but he just couldn't believe in that. He needed to get going.

"We'll be back soon sensei," Don reassured him. "Leo with us."

"I'm sure you will," Splinter replied.

"Let's go then before Raph has a heart attack from waiting too long," Mikey teased.

Raph glared at his younger brother for a moment before shoving the door open and stalking out into the sewers. It didn't take him long to break out into a run. '_We're coming Leo.'_

* * *

The electricity pulsed through him for the third time, even more agonizing than the first, wearing against his muscles and against his mind. Leo just wanted it to stop, wanted to be left alone. He wanted to be free of the straps that held him down on the table. But it wasn't possible. No matter how hard he thrashed, he could barely move. He couldn't get away from the electricity, from the burning pain that flooded his body.

When it finally stopped, Leo could only lay there, his muscles quivering. He shook too much to even speak if he wanted to. He wanted to know what Dark Angel thought he could gain by doing this to him. He knew he would be turned over to the Shredder soon. So why didn't the man do so now?

Dark Angel peered over Leo's shaking form, a ghost of a smirk crossed his face. "You want some answers now, don't you?"

Leo's eyes slowly took in the cold gleam in the man's gaze. He opened his mouth to speak, a small yes barely pushing through his lips.

"You always did," the man murmured. "You thrived on answers, on logic, on purpose."

"So… why ask… then…" Leo stuttered out. His body continued to shake as if the electricity still coursed through him, albeit in small quivers.

"Because I must know if you truly yearn to know the truth."

Leo glared at him for a moment and finally nodded.

"Yes, I thought so." Dark Angel paced away from the table and returned, treading back and forth. "I never did forgive you for taking him away from me."

Leo blinked slowly. "Who?"

"Shade," the muttered response came back.

"How can I… bring back what… I am not?" Leo bit his lip, trying to still the shakes of his body.

"How am I supposed to know?" he roared. "He wasn't supposed to leave in the first place. We were a team." He stopped to glare down at Leo. "We were partners. We were the ones who came out on top. You were supposed to meet me at the warehouse in Brooklyn to pick up a shipment. You never came."

Leo thought back to his days as Shade, tried to remember what shipment the man could be referring to. Realization donned on him as he remembered standing on the docks of the city, waiting for Dark Angel to show up for another discussion. They had been sneaking around the harbor, trying to decipher just what was going to be dropped off the next night. It had turned out to be a weapons arsenal. He and Dark Angel were to steal the shipment for a well paying benefactor. The actual stealing was meant to go down the next night. But that next night was the night he had run into the Foot's Elite ninja, starting him on the road to meeting up with his family again, bringing them to the Shredder, and finally waking up from his time as Shade. The man was right. He had never come back to meet Dark Angel.

"I ran into the Elite…" Leo murmured.

"And helped them instead," Dark Angel griped. "They were the ones we were stealing the shipment from in the first place! Imagine my surprise to find that you had swindled them out of a poison's cure. I have to applaud you for that, but then you regained your true identity it seems."

"And that's a bad thing?" he asked quietly, finally feeling his body beginning to still.

"I watched you for months after I was able to find you once more. You weren't the same," he muttered the last bit lowly.

Leo's eyes narrowed. "I will never be Shade again." He glared at Dark Angel. If that was what this was about, to convince him to return to his ways as Shade, then whether he died or not, he wouldn't do it.

"Watching you for the past seven months I kind of guessed that," Dark Angel, bending down to whisper in his ear. "So the only way to fix that is to hand you over to someone that might change your mind. I will even kill your family if you do not become Shade once more. We have a mission to finish and I need your help once again."

Leo shuddered at the man's breath in his ear. He turned his head away. There was no way that he would be convinced to become Shade again. There was no way in hell he would do that again. But if his family truly suffered for it…

"So I ask you again. Will you become Shade once more or will your fate be decided by Saki and the Foot?"

"No," Leo whispered with pain in his heart, hoping he was not sealing his family's fate. The physical pain came so suddenly once more, so quickly, he could not stop the scream that escaped his lips. A long pain filled howl that erupted from every part of his being. He didn't know how long the shock lasted this time. He only knew it went on and on. He had to have passed out at some point because he never remembered it stopping.

The next thing he knew he was being slapped. It came once, twice, three times before his head jerked up.

"I see we're going to do this the hard way," the man muttered.

Leo's head lulled to one side. He could barely comprehend the fact that he was no longer lying on the metal table anymore. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, his hands once more tied firmly behind him. "The easy way isn't always right…" he mumbled.

A snort was heard. "We shall see." The sound of the man dialing on a cell echoed within the room. "Oroku Saki? I have Leonardo." A pause followed by a laugh. "Oh yes, he's in no condition to be going anywhere. You'll be guaranteed you won't have any trouble during the transfer… I see. Well, we'll see you within the hour."

Footsteps came closer, the black form bending down across from him. Leo turned his head slowly as he took in Dark Angel in front of him.

Dark Angel's hand lunged forward, snatching Leo's arm with a tight grip.

Leo flinched as the grip tightened, having no strength to fight back.

The other hand came up with a syringe. "You'll need your strength if you decide to change your mind Leonardo. Shade knows what to do." He let go and stood, walking from the room.

Leo shuddered at the thought. He couldn't do what Dark Angel wanted of him. Even if it meant his death. But the man had mentioned his family. Would they pay the price for his refusal? Would it have been better if he had said yes?


	12. Negotiations

**Well I've finally got an update. :D Some parts just weren't coming, so I hope it's still enjoyable and worth the wait. ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Negotiations**

Leo had been left alone for the past hour, playing with the rope that bound his wrists. He had to get out of here. Since when did he just give up? Never. He would have to bide his time, but he could do this. The time before the Foot would arrive was drawing to a close. He had to get out of here now if he wanted to stay out of the Foot's hands. A grin plastered itself across his face as he felt the rope loosen, his left hand coming free. He pulled his hands in front of him and pulled the rope from his right wrist, flinging it to the ground. Finally! He was relieved to be rid of that.

Carefully getting to his feet, he winced, feeling the effects of the electricity still within his body. The soreness crept through him as he headed for the only door in the room, the one that would take him to his freedom.

Reaching the door quietly, he opened the door and peered out. Seeing nothing but an empty hall, he opened the door the rest of the way and crept out into the darkness. There were five doors lined along the hallway on the left side with no indication as to which led him out of the warehouse. With a sigh, he knew he would have to try every door until he came to the right one. He knew he would have to be quick about it. Gritting his teeth against the dizzying feeling, he was surprised when it passed a few seconds later. Could it have been attributed to what Dark Angel had given him before he called the Foot? He still felt sore, but no longer was the dizziness as overpowering.

He got to the first door and pulled it open, heart dropping as he found a small room bare except for a lonely table. Frowning he closed the distance to the second door. This one revealed a very sparse supply closet. He groaned and continued on to the next few doors, finding the third and fourth to be pretty much empty, but holding no exit. Standing at the fifth door, he clasped the knob, hoping against hope that this was the right door. The only difference that gave him more hope to believe this was it was that the door opened inward instead of outward like the first four. He pushed it open, seeing nothing but darkness. Though, the room seemed big. Frowning, he walked in, lights suddenly flinging on as he bumped into something, or rather someone.

Leo swallowed hard as he looked up into the red eyes of a Foot Elite. He slowly backpedaled, his tongue thick in his mouth with shock. His eyes narrowed, his muscles tightening. He had no weapons, but it was not something he let himself fully rely on. This was where he would depend on only himself. Glancing around the room, he saw three more Elite ninjas who quickly surrounded him. The large room was empty of furniture except for a few large boxes near the walls. This had to be one of the main rooms of the warehouse. At the far door stood a familiar tin suit.

"I thought you said there would be no trouble during the transfer," Shredder growled.

Dark Angel came through the door behind Shredder, his dark mask fixed upon his face once more. His eyes narrowed. "Yes, I did."

Leo kept his eyes on the Elite. They weren't attacking, just watching.

"Though I never said he'd be tied up," Dark Angel went on.

"And you let him roam through the building?" Shredder scoffed.

Dark Angel snorted. "No, but what better way to give a little hope just before snatching it away?"

It was quiet. The Shredder seemed to be satisfied by that answer.

Leo clenched his fists, waiting. He had to make a move, but the first one to do so may be dead.

"Restrain him," Shredder barked.

There it was. Leo backpedaled a couple steps, knowing he couldn't back up too far without running into the Elite behind him. He jumped up to the right to avoid the strike in the front. A quick duck in that same direction saved his neck from being cut cleanly through. He panted. He wasn't ready for a battle like this. The pain was creeping back into his muscles, the buzz of the electricity into his mind. The after effect was making the dizziness come back again. He almost missed jumping over the Elite's swinging spear on the left. He spun to the right, the axe behind him going over his head with a woosh. A shudder ran through him at the closeness of the blade. He knew he couldn't last long. He had to go now.

He dove to the left, as soon as he saw a free opening, taking the chance like a man denied water. He leapt up for the closest box, determined to put a little space between him and the Elite ninjas.

Something caught his foot in mid leap, pulling him back. He crashed to the ground with a thud and rolled over, slapping his hands in front to catch the blade aimed at his head. He breathed out, trying to keep the blade steady, to keep it from coming down any closer.

Hands grabbed his wrists, the blade was pulled away from his face as he was jerked to his feet. Leo winced as his arms were pulled painfully behind him, secured with metal cuffs. He struggled weakly against their hold, but the strength was sapped out of him.

"Come," Shredder sneered. "It is time for negotiations."

Leo was led through the far door behind Shredder and Dark Angel. They walked down the hall, into another large room, and out onto the docks. He searched around, desperately trying to find a way to escape, a route left open to his advantage.

The Elite shoved him along, tightening their grip on him, discouraging him from making a break from it just yet. He would have to do so before he reached the tower. Or else it would end.

He glanced around, keeping tabs on their whereabouts as they continued to walk, eventually taking to the rooftops. Their grip on his arms was iron. He kept himself relaxed as they walked, keeping an eye out for his brothers, wondering if they were searching for him yet. Had Splinter woke up to alert them? Or was he still unconscious? He bit his lip as they reached the entrance to the tower. They were stopped at the door, Saki imputing the code. Their attention was diverted, the grip on him loose. It was now or never.

Leo jerked to the right, breaking free of their lax grip. They were scrambling after him, their hurried footsteps behind him as he reached the closest alley. Pain coursed through him, momentarily clouding his mind. He didn't hear footsteps anymore. He didn't hear the cars rushing by not too far off. His vision darkened on him for a second before everything came back crystal clear. The first thing he felt was a hand griping for his arm. He darted forward, scooting around a dumpster in his way, and found himself face to face with Dark Angel.

His eyes narrowed behind the black mask. "Not yet Leonardo. Saki has plans for you."

Leo glared at him, backing away, a grouping of arms grabbing him, their hold tight enough to bruise. He struggled, but the grip was too firm. They led him into the tower without a word, roughly shoving him, a glare being exchanged between Saki and Dark Angel.

The ride up to the top of the tower oozed with tension, rage dripping off both of his enemies. He was led behind them into Shredder's chambers.

"There now. A painless transfer, just as you requested," Dark Angel finally spoke.

Shredder snorted. "Painless?"

"You really should've expected something like this."

Shredder was quiet for a moment, his eyes narrowed on Dark Angel. He made a motion, a case flew through the air. "You're money."

Dark Angel caught the case and opened it. He scowled. "You're short."

"He got away. Twice."

"Technically, he didn't get away, just loose and in an enclosed warehouse. It was your men that relaxed their hold on him on the way here."

"I can make that half if that's what you're going for."

"Or you can pay me double. I'm sure you don't want Leonardo destroyed just yet do you?"

Leo watched the two men quietly. Had Dark Angel done something more to him? He only remembered the syringe and that was said to help him. But he couldn't trust that either. The dark flash in the alley could testify to that. Now they were arguing over him like a mere piece of furniture. He frowned at the degradation.

"And why would that be?" Shredder demanded coldly.

Dark Angel pulled an empty syringe from his pocket, twirling in his fingers.

Shredder growled. "How long?"

"That is up to you. When are you going to pay me the remaining half?"

Shredder growled and nodded his head. Another briefcase flew.

Dark Angel caught it and looked inside. He shut it and took both cases, one in each hand. "You will receive a vile in an hour. A pleasure doing business with you," he sneered, turning away. "Have fun with your prize."

The doors slammed shut behind Dark Angel.

Leonardo turned his eyes to the Shredder, the anger rolled off the man in waves. He licked dry lips, steeling himself as the Shredder came forward, towering over him, seething, hand flying out and smacking against his cheek. Leo winced, held up by the ninjas that held him tightly.

Shredder let another growl echo in the quiet room before going behind his desk, standing with his arms crossed. "I will give you one chance. You will either join me or you will pay for your crimes as Shade."

Leo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It went back to this again. Great… He guessed he wasn't surprised Shredder had found that out. He didn't really care about that right now. He couldn't do what the Shredder wanted. "No," he ground out his answer. He would not become Shade and he would not become one of Shredder ninjas.

"Fine. It is your death that awaits you then." Shredder waved his hand, turning away from him.

Leonardo was shoved out of the room and down the hall. The grip remained tight. Just what was Shredder going to do to him? What had Dark Angel done to him? He swallowed hard and grunted as they threw him into a cell. He shivered at the cold temperature, the door slamming shut behind the ninjas that left him. Frost blew around him with each breath, his teeth beginning to chatter. "Just great…" he muttered.

* * *

Don pulled up on a roof overlooking the docks. Catching his breath, he looked down, seeing nothing. "He has to be around here somewhere…"

"Ya sure Donny?" Raph asked.

He nodded, still out of breath. "Yeah."

Raph jumped down, sprinting for the warehouse.

"Raph wait!" he and Mikey yelled in unison.

Don looked at Mikey, nodding to him, running down after Raph. They couldn't wait any longer. If Leo was here, they had to find him and stop Dark Angel now.

"There's so many warehouses to search," Mikey murmured.

He nodded and ran into the same one Raph did. "We can't split up."

"But wouldn't we be able to search more?"

"Yes, but I doubt it's a good idea to run into this guy alone." Don ran past Raph. "Anything yet?"

"Not yet Don," Raph growled.

Don pushed open the door on the left, hearing other doors creak open. The room in front of him was empty. Not even an empty box littered the floor. He turned away and ran for the next door. He pulled up and peered inside. Again nothing. Next door, silently open, again empty. They continued to search the warehouse, Raph's frustrated growl echoing in the building as they made it through the first one.

"Split up," Raph snapped.

"Leo couldn't take this guy with Splinter home, let alone all by himself. What makes you thing we can?" Don demanded.

"I don't care, split up," Raph barked glaring. "Call if you have ta when ya find 'im, but just go. We can't keep searching like this. We have to find him now."

Mikey turned away from one of the empty rooms. "He's right Don," he spoke up, his voice shaking. "What if we don't and then don't get there in time?"

Don sighed. "Yeah ok, let's go then." He followed his brothers out of the warehouse at a brisk pace. Raph immediately went to the warehouse on the right, Mikey trotted down to the one past that. That left him to pick his own. Don chose the one across from the first one they had searched. Entering, he crept along the walls, keeping his pace fast, but trying to keep the noise out of his steps and take in everything that was there. He didn't want to alert Dark Angel if the guy was in here. There was no telling what the man might do if he were surprised at the wrong time.

The search through the warehouse proved to take much longer than he had hoped to do so alone. He searched every room, every corner, and came up with nothing. Frustrated, he turned to go on to the next one.

His shell cell rang loudly, echoing within the warehouse before he reached the door he had come in at.

"_I got something," _Mikey's voice came through the line as he picked up.

"What is it?"

"_Part of Leo's shell cell. He was here, but it's empty now."_ The disappointment wasn't hard to miss in Mikey's voice.

"We'll find him Mikey."

"_I know…"_

"Where are you?"

"_Third one north of the first warehouse."_

"Be there soon." Don hung up and slipped his cell in his belt. He slipped out of the warehouse and down the dock to the one Mikey had said. Raph met him at the door. No words were exchanged. Just a look of determination. He led the way in, finding Mikey in the room down the hall off the main room of the warehouse. He was fingering a half broken shell cell.

"He's not here," Mikey croaked out.

"Are you sure? Did you search everywhere?" Raph demanded.

Blue eyes snapped up to Raph, glittering with tears. He nodded. "Everywhere."

"And this is all you found?" Don asked.

Another nod.

Don let his eyes search over the large room. Their brother had been here. What else could the room tell them? He narrowed his eyes on the metal table across the room, the straps hanging off of it. The only other thing in the room. He walked briskly towards it and ran his hand across the metal surface. It was worn with blood streaks faint on the metal. His fingers ran across them lightly before jerking his hand back. "It's recent."

Raph joined him, glaring at the table. "What is?"

"The blood."

"Like within the last hour recent?" Mikey asked, reaching out to touch the table.

Don grabbed Mikey's wrist, their eyes instantly locking. "There's electricity within the metal." He let go of his brother's wrist, watching as Mikey's hand fell to his side.

"Electricity?" Raph muttered. His hand stopped inches from touching it. "You don't think…"

He nodded. "Most likely electroshock therapy."

Raph snorted. "That's the nice way of puttin' it."

"And we just missed them?" Mikey asked quietly. "Now what?"

"Now it's your turn."

The three of them spun as one towards the voice. A muscled man in a black mask stood in the doorway.

The man crossed his arms. "You're brother did manage to last through each session. If you really want to find him, you'll have to take that up with Saki. I got my money."

A growl escaped Raph's throat.

"But here's the thing, if you go in after Leonardo, you're dead. If they even see you, a poison will be released into his system. If you harm me, you're dead. Because I managed to swipe and hide the only antidote."

"So? We'll just have Donny here fix that," Raph threw back.

"Not if you don't have any of the information to the poison itself," Dark Angel sneered. "It's all been deleted from the Foot's main frame and you don't have access to Leonardo. However, if you could somehow convince Leonardo to switch back to his Shade persona… well then I might just give you the antidote."


	13. Plans and Loss

**Sorry for the long delay guys, but I hope this long chapter makes up for it. Enjoy. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Plans and Loss**

Raph's fists shook by his side, ready to punch the living daylights out of the man before them. The man that had broken into their home, the man that had taken Leo, and finally, the man that had sold Leo to the Foot. He growled darkly. This man would pay. And why the hell was it about this Shade thing still? Leo had buried that months ago. What was it that this guy wanted so badly to put them through all this?

Dark Angel crossed his arms. "So I ask you, what will it be? Help me and get your brother back? Or recue and kill him all in one strike?"

His fist flew through the air before he had another thought. How dare this guy talk about this like that! They would get Leo back without helping this lowlife. Raph threw his other fist as quickly as the first, angered as both punches missed. He leapt up for a snap kick, striking air as the man moved out of the way. Another growl escaped as he spun around, barely taking in the forms of the younger brothers attacking the man as well. His vision narrowed on Dark Angel, watching him dodge the swipe of Don's bow and the swing of Mikey's chucks. He rushed in at the next second, sai in both fists, slashing at the man, rewarded with the trickle of blood flowing from the man's arm. It wasn't good enough! The strike had been meant for the man's chest and he had missed. He swung again, putting all his anger into his attacks, making his strikes more forceful, unpredictable, wild even. Dark Angel wouldn't be able to dodge everything. He had to keep going, had to keep striking. What happened next caught him off guard. He wasn't prepared for Don's body to crash into him, sending the both of them to the ground. He shoved Don off, intent on getting back to pummeling Dark Angel and actually get in a decent slash this time.

He froze in his tracks halfway to Dark Angel, eyes narrowing, breathing coming out in gasps as he took in the sight before him. Mikey was held in Dark Angel's grip, a small blade at Mikey's neck. "Don't you dare," he growled out.

Dark Angel shook his head. "Raphael… such a temper. You really should have watched your brother more when he was Shade, when he didn't remember who he was. I have to say it was worse than your temper."

"Let him go!" Raph snapped.

"Oh I will. In time Raphael and not a moment sooner."

Raph felt his body shake once more, the anger radiating off of him. He felt Donny's presence beside him. He was ready, itching to jump forward, but he couldn't risk it. He couldn't lose his baby brother.

Mikey struggled in the large man's grip. "You know dude, if you wanted to get in for a close up, you could've just asked."

"Michelangelo. Sad, naïve Michelangelo. You are the bait. I have an errand to send your brothers on. If getting close achieves that goal, then so be it." Dark Angel spoke with a chilling ease, leading Mikey over to the metal table, sweeping the orange banded turtle off his feet and laying him down on it.

"The table…" Don gasped.

"Is no longer live with electricity," the man finished. "It wore off a few minutes ago unfortunately. It would've added to the motivator. Pity."

"We're not doing anything for ya," Raph growled.

"No?" Dark Angel walked around the table as he held Mikey's struggling form down, using the straps to secure him. That done, he removed the knife, twirling it in his fingers as he remained at Mikey's side. "I would say it'd be in your favor to act on my behalf. Or do you wish to be a second brother short?"

The itch to rush forward was stronger. He needed to. They couldn't lose either brother. Each came at a price and Raphael was not ready to pay that price. Don's restraining hand was the only thing that held him back.

"And how are we supposed to help?" Don demanded soft, but firmly. "What can you hope to possibly achieve by all this?"

"Pressure."

"Pressure?" Raph didn't understand it. All this just for pressure? And for what?

"Pressure," Dark Angel repeated. "I need Leonardo pressured into becoming Shade again. I need a shipment stopped from entering New York. It is something I want, but I cannot have it in the hands of its current recipient."

"Then why not just ask Leo for help?" Don asked calmly. "Why go through all this to get Shade to do it?"

"Because he will not do it otherwise."

Raph raised an eyeridge. Sure there was some things that Leo wouldn't help someone with. But what could be so bad that this guy needed Shade? That he had to put their family through all over again to gain.

"And why's that?" Mikey spoke up from the table. His eyes remained large on the man standing over his strapped down frame.

"The shipment is destined for an April O'Neil."

An intake of breath was silent among the brothers, but along with his own, Raph pushed it out slowly, firmly, methodically. He had to keep his cool for Mikey and for Leo.

"What's in it?" Don asked, seemingly unfazed by the information thus far.

"Weapons."

Raph furrowed his brow, a frown crossing his face. "They're not gonna order that."

"No, not as what they bought, but together it can be built into one of the cities deadliest weapons."

"And you think we're just going to hand that over to you?"

Dark Angel shook his head. "No, which explains the measures I have taken to ensure its contents are mine. They will not know what they hold is deadly. That is a package from the Black Market, not their own order."

"That still doesn't explain all this," Don spoke up again.

"The package is going to be delivered to the Purple Dragons, not your friends."

"We could've helped if you just asked us!" Raph yelled.

"Now here's the tricky part," Dark Angel continued as if he hadn't heard the last outburst. "I need the mayor of this fine city taken out. The weapon bonds to its holder until this very mission is taken out when the package is opened. I need it to bond to Shade. Then I will be in control."

"You're just tryin' to take over the city aren't ya?" Raph growled.

Dark Angel leaned back against the table, seeming to smile condescendingly at them. "You could look at it that way. Or you could look at it as taking power away from the Foot. And I know you want that."

"But not this way," Don answered. "Not to have Leo thrown to the wolves."

"You're brother will be fine."

"And what about that poison huh?"

"A bluff to get your attention. Saki believes Leonardo has been poisoned as well and I will send him a vile, though this will either be an energy and muscle enhancer or the poison itself. It's your choice. Will you be helping me?"

Raph clenched and unclenched his fists, snapping his gaze to Donatello. There was no choice. He knew it as soon as Dark Angel put the blade back to Mikey's throat. The fear radiating off his younger brother cemented the decision.

Don's gaze mirrored the same conclusion back. "We'll do it."

"Excellent choice," Dark Angel said smoothly. He flipped a cell phone open, pressing it to his ear. "Send Saki the first package if you will." He shut the cell and turned his gaze on them once again. "Now, let's get down to business."

* * *

Leo couldn't help but curl up into the corner, shivering from the cold. He was alone still so he didn't have to worry about showing weakness. It was just too cold to try to ignore it. His teeth had long ago started to chatter, yet it couldn't have been an hour yet. Time crawled by so slowly. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He had buried his ties to Shade. Why did both the Dark Angel and Shredder want him to change? Sure the Shredder could use him to his advantage. He remembered how ruthless he had become as Shade. But Dark Angel? He wasn't ruthless or wanted massive power… or so he remembered. The memories hadn't been much, but Dark Angel was never power hungry. So then… what was this all about?

The door opened, slamming off the wall, a troop of eight ninjas walking into the frigid room.

Leo attempted to still his shivering and sit up. The shivering slowed, but he was forced back down by three of the ninja. One of them procured a syringe, shoving it into his arm.

"A gift from your Dark Angel friend," one whispered harshly.

Leo bit his lip to keep form wincing as he felt the liquid enter his system. What would it do to him? What was Dark Angel still hoping to achieve with this vile? He swallowed thickly as they stepped back, letting go of him. He watched them warily, keeping half his attention on himself, looking for any kind of reaction to the injection.

The eight ninja didn't move, didn't twitch. They just watched him as if he were some pet to be watched.

Four shadows seemed to materialize at the open door, catching his gaze. The four Elite Guard walked in, closing around his little corner.

"What do you want?" Leo demanded in between chattering teeth.

The question got him a sharp kick in the stomach, causing him to curl deeper into himself.

"You know why you're here," one Elite hissed.

"But you can end it," the second one growled.

"With just one thing," the third continued.

Leo's gaze traveled back up to the four ninja. He shook his head. He knew what they wanted and could not do it.

"Do you wish for your family to be found and executed?" the fourth asked.

"You don't know where they are," Leo ground out with certainty.

"No? But Dark Angel does, doesn't he?" the first one asked.

Leo looked away, not willing to play these mind games.

"He's looking for them now. Going to retrieve them," the second Elite spoke up once more.

"And all you have to do is become Shade," the third continued again.

Leo bit down a little harder on his lip. He couldn't put his family in danger. In doing either option, he would still be putting them in danger. If he wouldn't become Shade, Dark Angel would hunt down his family. He already knew of their home. And if he did, he would be the threat to his family. Either way, he would lose. His family would lose.

"Maybe we can change your mind," the first Elite hissed, waving his hand.

The eight Foot soldiers closed around him, picking up his freezing body and carrying him out into the hall. Moving proved to be fruitless as his body remained sluggish. The tight hold on him didn't help matters either. He was dragged into another room, dropped to the floor, and left there. The only thing he could be grateful for was the fact that the room was warm.

The shivers soon stopped. Leo raised his head to take in the ninja still within the room. He caught sight of the Elite as well. Turning his gaze towards the door, he watched the Shredder enter the room, a small bundle in his arms.

"You see Leonardo, if you do not pay for your crimes, others will. And by choosing to not join me as the crafty warrior as yourself or Shade… the little ones will pay for your mistakes until I am through with you."

He watched the Foot leader apprehensively. Who was he talking about?

The form was laid before him, the black blanket pulled back from the child's still, pale face.

Leo couldn't tear his gaze away from the boy, couldn't bare to look away. "Jack…" he whispered. He clenched his fists behind him. Jack didn't deserve to die by Shredder's hand. He had always been so kind to his little sister and even to him as his time as Shade. He slowly looked back up to the Shredder. If he had found Jack… what had happened to Dani? Was she safe?

The boy was once again covered, taken away by one of the Foot soldiers as another ninja entered. This one led a young girl by the hand.

"Dani…" Leo whispered, his throat constricting for the little girl. He had hoped she had not been captured like her brother. Like the one she had just lost.

"Hi Mr. Shade," Dani greeted sweetly.

"Would you become my warrior for the life of the little girl?" the Shredder asked calmly. "You're 'friend' Dark Angel seemed to think you took a liking to her and her brother."

The words were lodged within his throat. He couldn't speak as he continued to stare at young Dani. The young innocent face that shouldn't be within the walls of this tower.

"Mr. Shade?" she struggled to try to slip her hand from the ninja holding it to come to him.

Leo struggled to sit straighter. He couldn't frighten her, couldn't let her go through this, yet the words weren't coming.

"No?" the Shredder asked.

His gaze snapped upward, the words on his tongue not spilling out soon enough before the two fate words echoed within the quiet room.

"Kill her."

"No!" Leo cried out, watching as the blade was pulled from the ninja's sheath, heard the high pitched scream as the sword pierced her stomach.

They let her go as she crumpled to the ground, wailing from the pain. Dani staggered up after a moment, clamoring to the blue banded turtle, hugging him, crying in his ear as blood poured from her wound.

Leo put his chin on her shoulder, hugging her as best as he could despite his bound condition. Tears clouded his eyes as he felt the life draining from this precious little girl. Dying because of him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey all, sorry for the long delay. The plot in this one began to get too confusing as I tried to continue so I let it sit. Problem is, I let it sit too long and confused myself to where the story was heading. Good news is I think I've cracked the plot issue and have made headway. This next chapter isn't quite long, but I hope it makes up for the long wait and I'll hopefully have another update a whole lot sooner than this one took. Enjoy reading! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 14 - Holding On**

Dani's small form slumped against him, her last breath caressing Leo's cheek as she crumpled to the floor in front of him, her head in his lap. "I'm sorry little one," he repeated barely above a whisper, his head hanging low.

"Such a pity to waste a life so young." Footsteps clanked through the silent room, stopping before him. The Shredder crouched to his level, hand slowly gripping his chin lightly and lifting it until Leo was forced to meet his eyes. "Remember, the blame rests upon you and you alone."

Leo barely contained the forced shudder. It was his fault. If only he had spoken sooner, this precious little girl would not be dead in his lap. A wave of Shredder's hand and two ninja slipped forward to grab Dani from his grasp. Leo jerked his chin from his enemy's hands, a growl directed at the ninja advancing towards him in an effort to protect the little body. "Don't touch her," he growled, eyes narrowing upon the encroaching ninja. Dani didn't deserve to have her little body disgraced at the Foot's hands.

"Oh come now Leonardo. We have to clean up our little mess."

Leo's eyes narrowed further on the Shredder once more as he struggled in his bonds, helpless as the ninjas succeeded in taking away the body. "Dani is not a mess. She is just an innocent life in the path of your twisted games."

The Shredder stood, arms crossed in front of him as he glared down upon the blue banded turtle. "This is not a game Leonardo, only if you choose it to be. Now, speak your answer."

"Never," Leo spat, glaring up at the Shredder. "I will not join you and I will not become him. Shade stays in the past where he belongs."

"Very well." Another wave of the hand sent ninja scrambling forward, a hoard of fifteen descending upon the turtle. "Your next session begins."

Leo pulled and twisted as he was dragged to his feet once more and shoved to the room's door. They walked down the brightly lit hallways, the florescent lights shining down upon them. Twists and turns became a blur as they walked. He lost count after twelve hallways and dozens of doors. Finally stopping at one, a ninja swiped a key card, the red light flashed green, allowing the door to open. Eyes narrowing, Leo braced himself against their grip. He could see the chains in the room attached to the gleaming silver table. He jerked to the left, feeling their grip on him loosen. Wasting no time, he rammed his shoulder into the ninjas on the right, two of them going down only to be replaced by three more, hands gripping his shoulders in a death grip as he was shoved forward through the doorway, his feet stumbling beneath him. They forced him to the table, lifted him up in an attempt to force him down onto the table. His legs swung freely, his right foot smacking into the face of a ninja while his left foot did the same. The two ninja fell back, the rest of them throwing the blue banded turtle onto the table with a smack, the straps quickly fastened across his ankles, wrists, and chest. With him secured, the ninja fell back like a retreating wave.

The door swung open again, the Shredder entering. "So much fight in you. We shall see how long it lasts." He motioned for a ninja to step forward, the chosen ninja brandishing a needle.

Leo narrowed his eyes on the ninja, pulling against the straps, testing their strength. They didn't budge even as he tried to pull away from the needle aimed for his arm. The cold metal sank into his skin, releasing its contents. The task done, the ninja capped the needle and slipped back into the sea of ninja. Leonardo blinked, feeling nothing change. His vision remained true, no pain radiated from his arm. He frowned in confusion. "What was that?" he demanded.

"A muscle relaxant," the Shredder supplied. "It should be kicking in at any moment, slowly taking over your ability to move of your own will."

Leo's eyes widened slightly before narrowing, waiting for the big catch. A relaxant was no torture. He experimentally tugged at the straps once more, finding his left arm where needle had entered was unmovable. His left leg was numb even as he felt the numbness slowly starting to spread throughout his body. Quelling down his panic, he tried to force his left arm to move once more with no success. Both legs were now frozen, even his right arm just barely twitched. He forced out a calming breath as he could no longer wiggle beneath the straps.

The Shredder ran a hand down Leo's arm, clenching his fist as he allowed the blades of his gauntlet to graze the green skin all the way down to the turtle's foot. Not even a muscle twitched from the cut, the smallest of winces crossing Leo's face for a moment. "Perfect," the Shredder all but purred. He motioned for another few ninja to step forward. The straps were quickly undone from the turtle's limbs.

With himself free, Leo tried to move, get off the table even if it was to only roll off and land in a crouch. His limbs would not obey his commands, he could not move even though there was nothing holding him down. His gaze swiveled back to his enemy for a moment before the door opened once more. The ninja within the room parted, two Foot tech ninja entered, carrying a large python into the room, laying the giant snake upon Leo's plastron before backing up quickly out of the snake's range.

"You should be fine if you don't move, not that you can anyway," the Shredder spoke up confidentially. "Though the relaxant should wear off in an hour and you will be in for a little trouble." He waved his ninja out of the room, following behind them. "Good luck Leonardo," he sneered. "We will be back in two hours."

The door slammed shut, catching the snake's attention for the moment before turning its gaze back to Leo. His heart hammered in his chest, watching the large snake that lay across his plastron, feeling the scaly body move and writher closer to his head. The tail of the snake wrapped itself around his left foot and leg, the snake's tongue coming out with a hiss to taste the air, the tip of it brushing across Leo's face. His eyes slammed shut in an attempt to block out the sight of the python, the feel of it slowly moving on top of him. Swallowing hard, he willed his heart to calm, to show no fear in front of the snake. Opening his eyes to glare at it, he watched it's movements as it slithered upward, wrapping around his neck, slipping underneath and coming back up to lay across his plastron once more. Seeming content, the snake lay still, squeezing the turtle every so often as time slipped by. Leo forced himself to relax, to focus on his breathing instead of the animal that held him in its grasp.

Time moved slowly, his left foot twitching finally. The twitch caught the attention of the snake. Leo willed himself to keep very still. With the relaxant wearing off, he didn't want any twitching limbs to convince the snake to make him into its meal. The numbness slowly wore off, full movement being restored to his being. The snake squeezed tighter, the tip of the tail lazily swinging back and forth off the table. Again the snake seemed content. Leo shut his eyes, blocked out the snake, its weight on him, the feeling of being squeezed to death. He let his mind wander, taking in his options even as he kept himself still to avoid being bitten or squeezed any tighter. It was getting more difficult to breathe as it was. Licking dry lips, he continued to plan and think. There was no way he could jump quickly out of the snake's hold with the grip it had on him. Any flurry of movement would provoke an attack.

Time continued to drag across the room, each idea of escape discarded one after another as each one would end in disaster. So deep in thought, he nearly jumped as the door slammed open with a thud, the snake's gaze snapping up to the intruders, its body squeezing tighter around its prey.

Leo gasped for breath as the Shredder and his ninja walked into the room, his vision blackening for just a moment.

"Comfortable?" the Shredder asked.

He narrowed his gaze at his enemy, not even having the breath to answer even if he wanted to.

"No? Well we can easily fix that, a simple yes to my request will do."

Leo shook his head just barely, "No…" he breathed out. He would not be used in the Shredder's army.

The Shredder growled, slamming his fist down on the table the turtle and snake lay on, the snake quickly squeezing tighter in response. "You will agree," he growled.

Leonardo gasped for breath, air fully cut off from his lungs, the grip of the snake squeezing deathly tight and still squeezing tighter.

The Shredder motioned a ninja forward, who produced a needle, infusing the snake with its contents. Within seconds the snake's hold relaxed slightly. The effect was slow, not fast enough to take the darkness from his vision as air slowly trickled back into his aching lungs. As the snake fully lost muscle control, air rushing into freely into his airways, he lost the fight with consciousness.


End file.
